China has officially been declared malaria-free by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The feat has been applauded by the health organisation, which said the country reported 30 million cases of the mosquito-borne illness annually during the 1940s.
The country is the first in the WHO Western Pacific Region to be awarded a malaria-free certification in more than three decades.
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Australia achieved this status in 1981, followed by Singapore in 1981, and Brunei Darussalam in 1987.
"Today we congratulate the people of China on ridding the country of malaria," WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
"Their success was hard-earned and came only after decades of targeted and sustained action.
"With this announcement, China joins the growing number of countries that are showing the world that a malaria-free future is a viable goal."
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A battle waged for decades
China's battle against malaria began in the 1950s.
Health authorities supplied preventive antimalarial medicines for people at risk of the disease, treatment for those who had fallen ill, and made an effort to reduce mosquito breeding grounds.
The "523 Project" was launched by the Chinese Government in 1967.
The nationwide program researched new treatments for malaria. It was responsible for the discovery of artemisinin in 1971.
Artemisinin is the core compound of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), the most effective antimalarial drugs available today, WHO said on their website.
"Over many decades, China's ability to think outside the box served the country well in its own response to malaria, and also had a significant ripple effect globally," Director of the WHO Global Malaria Programme Dr Pedro Alonso said.
"The Government and its people were always searching for new and innovative ways to accelerate the pace of progress towards elimination."
After reporting four years of no cases China applied for an official WHO certification of malaria elimination in 2020.
Approximately 600,000 people are infected with malaria each day.
The mosquito-borne illness attacks the liver and red blood cells.
Initial symptoms include fever, headaches and chills without treatment it can progress quickly to severe illness and death.
It's estimated malaria killed 409,000 people in 2019. Over half of the world's population is currently at risk.
