The COVID-19 outbreak that has raged through the world since the start of 2020 has brought catastrophic damage to all countries. The unexpected public health emergency severely tested China's emergency response system, to which it has posed serious challenges and of which it has exposed numerous problems. In response to public health emergencies, many countries in the world have developed relatively comprehensive early warning and response systems through years of practice and established corresponding crisis management mechanisms. In operation, these systems and mechanisms have played an invaluable role in calming the public's panic, restoring order, and reducing loss of life and property.

In order to better understand the public health system and emergency response systems of typical countries, Peking University's Institute of Area Studies (PKUIAS) initiated a “Health Systems of Various Countries from the Perspective of Public Health” webinar series in cooperation with the University's School of Public Health and Institute of Global Health.

      Prof. Ole Döring, director of the Institute for Global Health, Berlin, was invited to give a talk at the salon. He introduced the German public health system and discussed the improvement of international public health systems under globalization as well as the status of public health cooperation between China and Germany, among other topics.