OBJECTIVES: To evaluate to what extent the public research investment addresses infections caused by emerging infectious diseases (EIDs), we examined the magnitude of relevant public funding in China and compared it with disease burden across different pathogens.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using the publicly available data from 2009 to 2019. The disease burden was measured in the number of newly notified incidence cases, considering the sporadic nature of EIDs. The public funding was estimated using the funding amount on award for the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) projects related to detecting, preventing and controlling EIDs. The relationship between disease burden and public funding was analyzed in a linear regression model in RStudio (Version 4.1.3).

RESULTS: From 2009 to 2019, China has invested 170 NSFC projects on EIDs, totaling 128.50 million RMB (20.01 million USD). 45.70% of the total funding was allocated to the WHO's Blueprint priority pathogens (i.e., Ebola and Marburg virus), which have not been reported in China so far; whereas research input on brucellosis and Japanese encephalitis (1.10%), as diseases that have been prevalent and re-emerged in China, were lower than expectation. Our analysis indicates the correlation between NSFC funding and EID burden is not strong enough to determine that two variables are dependent of each other (log (X) log (y): P = 0.44, Coefficient=0.52).

CONCLUSIONS: Although China is always missing from the global landscape of research funding on EIDs, our study suggests it might become a strong public funder in terms of share of funding, ongoing support and diversified disease portfolio. The funding allocation mechanism needs to strengthen awareness and responsiveness to the changes in burden of disease. A better understanding of priority settings at both national and global levels is required to facilitate strategic funding programs toward better pandemic preparedness and response.