CMB and Zhejiang University School of Medicine convened Westlake Youth Forum 2019, which brought more than 120 participants to the Zhejiang University Haining Campus on June 11-12. This was the fourth Westlake Youth Forum, which serves as a platform for young health policy and system sciences (HPS) researchers to communicate with peers and learn from senior scholars. The goal of the forum is to incubate a vibrant community of HPS researchers, within China and internationally, and to catalyze future collaboration among participants.

The Westlake Youth Forum 2019 addressed four essential aspects of HPS: health financing, health technology assessment, access to healthcare, and quality of care. Ba Denian, the Honorary Dean of Zhejiang University School of Medicine welcomed the participants, and CMB President Lincoln Chen and Trustee Jeff Koplan delivered opening speeches via video and in person, respectively. Other presentations and panel discussions featured institutional leaders and senior faculty members from more than 20 academic, governmental, philanthropic, and commercial institutions, including Zhejiang University, Fudan University, Peking University, National Health Development Research Center, Johns Hopkins University, Stanford University, Yale University, University of Georgia, New Sunshine Foundation, and the British Medical Journal.

The China Health Policy and Management Society (CHPAMS), an organization that fosters exchanges and collaboration among health communities from the overseas and Chinese academic communities, also played an active role in making forum arrangements and participating in the program sessions. Young HPS researchers from Chinese universities and overseas institutions presented highlights of their research through speeches, panel and roundtable discussions, and poster sessions. Side events included dialogues with senior researchers; a seminar on the relationship between research and media; and a visit to nearby Wu Zhen Internet Hospital, a startup medical facility that provides services via m-health and e-health tools.

CMB, through its HPS Collaborating Programs, Open Competition grants, and support for the Westlake Youth Forum and CHPAMS, has been helping to spur the development of the HPS discipline in China for over a decade. CMB’s strategy for HPS reflects the themes of China’s health system reform plans, which aim to provide better and more efficient care to the people of China.