Singapore: The China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) said in a statement that top health authorities had approved three diagnostic test reagents for Ebola, developed by Daan Gene of San Yat-sen University, Puruikang Biotech of Shenzhen, and Shanghai ZJ Bio-Tech.

Stating that the tests will be reserved for contingency purposes, the CFDA said that this discovery will significantly boost the Chinese government's efforts to ward off the spread of the epidemic.

"These (products) provide key technological safeguards for China to diagnose the Ebola virus and defend against any epidemic situation," said officials with the CFDA.

"Our test agent can produce a result, using oral secretions or blood, on the contraction of Ebola in just two to three hours," reported Mr Ni Weiqin, vice president of Shanghai ZJ Bio-Tech, adding that the agent embraces fluorescence PCR technology, similar to test agents approved by FDA of the US.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, over 16,000 people have been infected and around 7,000 have lost their lives in a deadly epidemic that has gripped west Africa.