[1][2] On October 27, 1949, in order to counter a plague in Chabei, the Government Affairs Council of the Central People's Government passed a resolution to establish the Central Epidemic Prevention Committee to uniformly lead the epidemic prevention work.

Appointed were Nie Rongzhen (Deputy Chief of General Staff of the People's Liberation Army and Commander of the North China Military Region), Li Dequan (Minister of Health), and He Cheng (Vice Minister of Health) as chairman members.

In 1988, the Bureau of Endemic Disease Prevention and Control of the Ministry of Health was changed into the department.

Chang Jile, director of the National Administration of Disease Control and Prevention of the National Health Commission of China, Shen Hongbing,[6] President of Nanjing Medical University Academician and Sun Yang of the Emergency Office of the National Health Commission of China (Emergency Command Center for Public Health Emergencies) were appointed as deputy directors.

The new agency will assume five major functions, including formulating policies for the prevention and control of infectious diseases.