The Politburo Standing Committee said the national emergency management system had to improve.
A crackdown on wildlife markets, where the virus emerged, has been ordered.
There are more than 17,000 confirmed cases in China, with 361 deaths, and more than 150 in other countries, with one death in the Philippines.
The number of deaths in China, excluding Hong Kong, now exceeds the 349 killed on the mainland in the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2002-03.