Commitment, effort key to making China world leader in TB control

Between 1990 and 2010, China halved the number of new tuberculosis infections within its borders - achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goal for TB five years ahead of schedule.

Since then, the number of cases has continued declining, from 7.1 per 1 million in 2011 to 6.3 per 1 million in 2015, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

"I would say that's probably the best progress that we've seen in tuberculosis control for a long time, and China was able to succeed in doing that," said Daniel Chin, a TB expert with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation who's from the United States.