The COVID-19 epidemic has basically ended in China, with only sporadic and regional infections still occurring, a senior epidemiologist said on Thursday.

Liang Wannian, head of the National Health Commission's expert panel on COVID-19 control, said that the country's "decisive victory" over the disease – which was announced at a key meeting of the Communist Party of China last week – means that it has overcome the latest round of infections and that the population has acquired a relatively strong herd immunity.

The announcement also means that the spread of the disease has largely concluded in China, though not completely, he told a news conference in Beijing.

The intensity of the spread of a virus is measured using a four-tier system, with the lowest being sporadic infections. The more intense levels include outbreak, epidemic and pandemic, Liang said in response to reporter's queries over the criteria for exiting an epidemic.

In March 2020, the World Health Organization designated COVID-19 a pandemic. It was deemed to be a health emergency of international concern in January 2021 and remains so.

However, China has managed to secure a decisive victory over the virus and has set an example for a how a populous nation can overcome an epidemic, he added.