People visit the Xidan business area in Beijing, capital of China, June 3, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

Beijing plans to formulate or revise 20 regulations to strengthen its public health system amid the COVIOD-19 epidemic, including measures on infectious disease prevention and control and public health emergency response. 

The plan was announced at a meeting of the Standing Committee of Beijing Municipal People's Congress on Thursday.  

Regulations on hospital management, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), experimental animal management, as well as wildlife protection regulations are also included in the 20 regulations scheduled to be enacted or revised by the end of next year. 

 "The congress has been strengthening efforts to improve the city's public health system since the epidemic outbreak, especially on emergency response and epidemic prevention and control," Wei Aimin, a deputy of Beijing Municipal People's Congress, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

Wei noted that though the workload seems heavy for the city's lawmakers, the task will be completed in good quality as the city has been mobilizing lawmakers from towns, districts and the city to close the loopholes of the health legal system with joint efforts. 

More than 590 confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in Beijing since the outbreak, with the last case reported on April 15. 

It is of great significance for the capital city of China to prevent and control epidemics in a scientific and orderly manner in accordance with the law," said Wang Rongmei, director of the legislative affairs office of the Standing Committee of Beijing Municipal People's Congress, who reported on the plan at the meeting.

Wei, who is also the director of the Beijing Huxian law firm, made a few proposals on public health emergency response regulations, such as establishing a multi-level epidemic prevention materials reserve system, ensuring the sufficiency of supplies for the government, enterprises and individuals to respond to the emergency. 

 He also recommended strengthening education of infectious disease prevention and treatment for medical workers and volunteers as controlling an epidemic is a long-term and tough task that needs substantial professional work, which can be seen in the recently-eased COVID-19 outbreak. 

The Beijing authority recently solicited public feedback on draft regulations on the TCM industry, but faced controversy as one of the clauses said people will be punished if they smear or slander TCMs. The authority clarified with the media Thursday that the clause is not final and they may revise or delete related clauses in response to the controversy.