China cannot abandon the social responsibility of major public health crises such as SARS for the sake of economic development, Chinese premier Wen Jiabao said on Thursday.

“The SARS epidemic taught us a lesson. A country cannot focus on economic development alone and ignore the social consequences,” Wen said during a visit to a Dutch medical equipment manufacturer.

SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, infected more than 8,000 people in nearly 30 countries, killing 800, after an outbreak emerged in southern China in 2002.

The World Health Organization’s team in Beijing said in November it would not be surprised to see a resurgence of a small number of cases in China, but it would be surprised to see a large outbreak.

SARS briefly re-emerged in China in April, killing one person and fueling fears that the disease could surface in an annual cycle similar to that of the human flu.

“Some of our local leaders only know about gross domestic product, and do not know about Centers for Disease Control. Sometimes CDC can be more important than GDP,” Wen said.

China’s state media said the country has spent $1.5 billion on SARS prevention and control. The country has a new disease protocol, which calls for designated treatment hospitals and a system of alerts and early warnings aimed at stopping re-emergence in its tracks.