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 PKU's School of Public Health and Institute of Global Health. The salon invited Prof. Fang Hai from PKU's China Center for Health Development Studies to talk about the public health system and health emergency response system of the US and shed light on issues such as the state of the global public health system in the context of globalization and the cooperation between China and the US in the field of public health.