Medical Innovation Benefits the People: Highlights of the 2026 Beijing Capital International Medical Conference

Article content

2026 Beijing Capital International Medical Conference

Article content

BEIJING, Sept. 18, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — “Let innovation promote equity, let cooperation enhance mutual trust, and let development lay the foundation for health and wellbeing, benefiting every person, every family, and every community.” At the 2026 Beijing Capital International Medical Conference held on September 12, Chen Zhongdan, an official at the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative Office in China, pointed to this consensus goal shared by all participants. Under the theme “Innovation and Cooperation for a Win-win Future: Building a Global Community of Health for All,” this year’s conference systematically showcases China’s achievements in health governance, deepens multilateral international health cooperation, empowers new quality productive forces in healthcare, enhances China’s international discourse power in healthcare, and explores solutions for building a global community of health for all.

Article content

Article content

Article content

Remarkable Achievements of “Healthy China”: Chinese Experience Wins Praise

Article content

Article content

The year 2026 marks the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan and also coincides with the tenth anniversary of the implementation of the “Healthy China” strategy. Lei Haichao, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director of the National Health Commission, introduced that China has built the world’s largest systems for medical services, traditional medicine, disease control, and medical security, with average life expectancy reaching 79.25 years in 2025. Jin Wei, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and Vice Mayor of Beijing, introduced that the average life expectancy of Beijing residents is nearly 84.2 years, the infant mortality rate has dropped to 1.3 per thousand, and the scale of the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry has remained above RMB 1 trillion for two consecutive years. Nadia Rasheed, UNFPA Representative in China, also noted that since the implementation of the “Healthy China” strategy, maternal and infant mortality rates have continued to decline, and 90% of Chinese people can access services from family health institutions nearby within 15 minutes. “From an international perspective, ‘Healthy China’ is not merely a national health initiative; it represents a profound shift in our understanding of ‘development’ itself,” said Siddharth Chatterjee, former UN Resident Coordinator in China and CEO of Global Neighbours. “Healthy China” has pushed health from the margins of development to the core of national progress.

Article content

Article content

Multiple Collaborative Projects Launched, Deepening International Health Cooperation

Article content

Win-win cooperation goes beyond vision; it is reflected in multiple long-term collaborative projects. At the opening ceremony, five international medical cooperation projects were signed on site, including the China-Africa Medical and Health Cooperation Project, the Medical and Health Cooperation Project for Belt and Road Countries, and the Medical and Health Coordination Project for Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Member States. The innovation and translation cooperation platform jointly built by Peking University Third Hospital and SingHealth was launched the same day, with both sides committed to deepening collaborative efforts in medical science and technology innovation and achievement translation. Looking ahead, international health cooperation has broad prospects. Dirk Köcher, President of the Verband des Klinikmanagements Deutschlands e.V. and Director of Städtisches Klinikum Dresden, said that Germany and China face similar challenges such as ageing and shortages of medical professionals, and that artificial intelligence, digitalisation, and new drug development are areas with great potential for cooperation. “No single country can address these challenges alone – this is precisely why we must build a global community of health for all,” said Chatterjee. Lei Haichao stated that China looks forward to carrying out more extensive and practical cooperation projects with all parties in areas such as the R&D of new drugs, vaccines, and devices, full-life-cycle health management, cross-border disease prevention and control, and “AI + healthcare.”