How the Sars outbreak changed mainland China

Beijing businessman Wu Yong can still smell the disinfectant in the air as he casts his mind back to spring 10 years ago, when an unknown and deadly new disease held the capital and the country in its grip.

The driver, conductor and a handful of passengers on a bus for his daily commute all wore masks. The streets were empty bar a few cars and even the city's busiest shopping street, Wangfujing, was deserted.

"In panic, we bought masks, vinegar and banlangen [a traditional Chinese cold medicine]. Everyone would flinch when someone coughed or sneezed," said Wu, now 35. "It was a very scary and strange time of my life."

The disease, later identified as severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) didn't just leave its mark on ordinary citizens like Wu. From the first diagnosis in November 2002 until the World Health Organisation declared China Sars-free on May 19, 2004, the disease infected 5,237 people on the mainland, of whom 329 died. It was a major public health crisis that had an impact well beyond the health sector.

"Sars bears landmark significance not only for economic development but for government reform. It has triggered a series of major policy changes," Premier Wen Jiabao wrote in the February 1 issue of the Communist Party journal Seeking the Truth.

"The crisis exposed all the defects in the political system," said Professor Hu Angang of Tsinghua University's school of public policy and management. "It turned out to be the best teacher for the government on how not to repeat those mistakes."