Contributing to global health and development
Malaria control
We help accelerate the introduction of high-quality, low-cost Chinese-made anti-malarial products into the global market, along with the sharing of China’s expertise in malaria control.
In 2019, nearly 230 million people worldwide are infected with malaria, and more than 400,000 die as a result. More than 90 percent of cases and deaths occur in Africa. Malaria remains a leading cause of death for pregnant women and for children under age 5.
Over the past 60 years, China has reduced malaria cases within its borders from 30 million a year to zero—an incredible achievement that highlights the depth of experience China brings to this issue. We believe that China, aiming to meet its goal of eliminating malaria by 2021, can take on a global leadership role in malaria control and elimination.
We work with partners in China to accelerate the introduction of high-quality, low-cost Chinese-made malaria commodities into the global market, expand China’s role in bilateral and multilateral mechanisms to help fill the gap in funding and expertise, and facilitate the sharing of China’s malaria control experience in regions with high malaria incidence.
Agricultural development
We support China in sharing its experience, expertise, and resources to become a stronger partner for Africa’s agricultural transformation.
Agricultural development offers a path out of poverty for millions of people, as China and many other countries have shown in recent decades. In particular, China's agricultural research and technology institutions have a wealth of expertise and innovation that can be applied to pressing needs in Africa and beyond. Approaches ranging from crop improvement and livestock vaccines to technology adoption and effective delivery strategies have the potential to improve food security and nutrition, increase the incomes of millions of farming families, and help mitigate the effects of climate change.
We work with China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, other government agencies, and the private sector to develop and transfer relevant technologies, approaches, and models that are in high demand in low-income countries through both bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
Health product innovation and regulatory improvement
We help China improve its health innovation ecosystem so more innovative, affordable health products can reach and benefit the poorest communities in the world.
With its growing health R&D and manufacturing capabilities, China is uniquely positioned to help improve the quality and lower the cost of drugs, contraceptives, and other much-needed health products for use in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
We work with the Chinese government, the private sector, and global health partners to identify, develop, and deliver these high-quality, low-cost health products so developing countries can address endemic diseases and other urgent health needs. These products include Japanese encephalitis vaccines, inactivated polio vaccines, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines to prevent cervical cancer, and artemisinin combination therapies for malaria.
We partnered with the Beijing Municipal Government and Tsinghua University to launch the Global Health Drug Discovery Institute (GHDDI) in Beijing, which aims to create a world-class drug discovery and translational medicine platform for global health with advanced biomedical R&D capabilities.
In collaboration with the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), we launched the Grand Challenges China program to jointly select and fund scientific and technological research projects focused on tackling major infectious diseases; reducing maternal and child mortality; strengthening translational science capacity; advancing agriculture, food, and nutrition outcomes; and alleviating challenges in other key areas in China and around the world.
We also work with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners to provide technical assistance and other support to Chinese regulatory bodies so they can better align Chinese regulations and standards with international requirements. This will enable more high-quality, affordable Chinese-made health products to quickly attain WHO prequalification and become accessible to the developing world.
Transformative sanitation technologies
We work with Chinese government agencies and researchers to fund the development and implementation of cutting-edge sanitation technologies that can benefit people in China and around the world.
Improved sanitation is essential to a healthy and sustainable future for the developing world. Improvements to the management of human waste can avert hundreds of thousands of deaths each year from sicknesses such as diarrhea and greatly reduce environmental contamination.
We work with Chinese partners across the public and private sectors to develop and spur demand for transformative sanitation technologies, identify new delivery models, build markets, and advocate for public policies that support improved sanitation in China and around the world.
In 2011, we launched the global Reinvent the Toilet Challenge to fund research and pilot testing of sanitation inventions, including low-water or waterless toilets that do not require a sewer connection or electricity and cost around 0.3 Chinese yuan (five U.S. cents) per user per day.
Two years later, we joined with the University of Science and Technology Beijing to bring the challenge to China.