Treatment may be in the offing for the highly contagious Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) as Chinese scientists announced the discovery of a chemical compound that can be used to cure the viral infection.

The small molecular compound was found effective against Cox A16 and EV71, the viruses responsible for the disease that affects infants and children below five years old.

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The breakthrough was announced by scientists at the Queenstown Molecular Biology Meeting which opened in Shanghai on Thursday.

"We will start pre-clinical studies soon and hope to launch trials after a year if the application goes smoothly," said Rao Zihe, president of Biophysical Society of China and chief scientist of the research.

Rao and his colleagues are optimistic that they have found a cure for the disease that has threatened over a million children annually.

The disease, which spreads on direct contact, usually starts with a mild rash on the hands and feet accompanied by fever, progressing into a condition that could gravely affect the child's respiratory, nervous and circulatory systems.

HFMD can be fatal if it develops into encephalitis and pulmonary edema.

More than one million Chinese children are infected by HFMD every year since the major outbreak of the disease in 2008.

In 2012, the national health ministry announced a record high of 2.17 million children infected by HFMD.

"We found a target on the surface of the viruses and the useful chemical compound to deal with them," said Rao, who began studying the disease in 2011 along with his colleagues.

Wang Mingwei, director of the National Center for Drug Screening, lauded the breakthrough as a great example of drug innovation in China.

Some 700 scientists, entrepreneurs, managers and graduates from 17 different countries across the world attended the 2-day Molecular Biology Meeting in Shanghai.

At the meeting's conclusion on Friday, the scientists released a joint declaration called the "March Manifesto", which called for the upgrading of Zhangjiang "Pharma Valley" into a world-class innovation launchpad for drug discovery and diagnostic technologies.