A research center dedicated to epidemiology with a focus on the physiology of breastfeeding and the long-term health of mothers and children was established in Shanghai on Wednesday.

The Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Shanghai Breastfeeding Research Center, the first of its kind in China, was co-founded by the Fudan and Tongji universities in Shanghai and the Family Larsson Rosenquist Foundation in Switzerland.

"This center will serve as a communications platform for scientists committed to breastfeeding as well as maternal and children health research, promoting multidisciplinary, comprehensive and international cooperation and exchanges," said Zheng Jialin, dean of the school of medicine at Tongji University.

Associated with the Children's Hospital of Fudan University and the Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, the research center will host four endowed professorships with a focus on research related to epidemiology and lactation. Researchers will conduct studies that have the potential to generate significant global impact and work with other members of the FLRF breast milk research network from around the world.

The foundation will endow a total of CHF 11 million ($11 million) to the new center and its professorships.

"We have found a fertile environment focused on excellence in basic research where, together with these leaders in science, we can advance the global epidemiological understanding of human lactation," said Goran Larsson, chairman of the board of Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation.

Mother and childcare services have been greatly improved in China since the reform and opening up 41 years ago, said Wu Jinglei, director of Shanghai Municipal Health Commission.