Peking University Health Science Center (PKUHSC) joined by CMB convened a global health forum on “Sharing Experiences and Collaborating for Global Health” on October 23-24, 2017, attended by 130 Chinese policymakers and health professionals and international scholars. The forum was launched by PKUHSC Vice President Zhan Qimen joined by three leaders of global health in China: Han Qide, Vice Chair of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; Cui Li, Vice Commissioner of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), who oversees the global health portfolio; and World Health Organization (WHO) Assistant Director-General Ren Minghui, who heads infectious disease control at WHO and previously, as Director-General of International Cooperation at NHFPC, sparked development of the field of global health in China.

Driven in part by the Silk Road-Belt Initiative, China is accelerating its engagement in global health. In her presentation, Commissioner Cui highlighted the four network platforms included in the “Beijing Communiqué,” signed by 30 health ministers and representatives of multilateral health agencies at the August 2017 Belt and Road High-Level Meeting. These platforms are intended to promote global health collaboration in the areas of public health, policy research, hospital alliances, and health industry alliances. Kun Tang of the Department of Global Health at Peking University’s School of Public Health also addressed the global health implications of the Silk Road-Belt Initiative, concluding that China’s Silk Road-Belt, Ebola response, overseas development assistance/development assistance for health, and new investment funds are complementary and reinforcing, and position China to play an increasingly powerful role in shaping the contours of global health. (Dr. Tang, joined by co-authors Wenkai Li and Lincoln Chen of CMB and Zhihui Li of Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, published on December 9th a Lancet article on China’s Silk Road and Global Health.)

Major sessions at the forum focused on China and global health security, China and multilateral governance, overseas development assistance and the replicability of China’s lessons, and China’s global health policy. CMB President Lincoln Chen announced that CMB will issue a request for proposals that will provide $600,000 in grants in support of young Chinese gaining work experience in low-income countries.