Shen Hongbing meets with GSK’s President, International

Shen Hongbing, vice-minister of the National Health Commission and administrator of the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration (NDCPA), met with Mike Crichton, president, international at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a global biopharma company, on March 23. They exchanged views on strengthening cooperation on disease prevention and control.

Shen said that the Chinese government has consistently placed people's health in a strategic priority position. At the recently concluded annual “two sessions”, the concurrent meetings of the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, President Xi Jinping sets clear requirements for advancing the Healthy China initiative, while the adopted outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for national economic and social development makes further arrangements for related work.

He noted that the NDCPA will continue to advance the reform and improvement of disease prevention and control system, strengthen the prevention and treatment of key infectious diseases such as hepatitis B and tuberculosis and enhance the quality and coverage of the national immunization program, so as to better meet the health needs of the people.

He also expressed the expectation that international partners like GSK would continue to play an active role in supporting the Healthy China initiative and the high-quality development of China’s disease prevention and control, jointly promoting the building of a global community of health for all.

Crichton spoke highly of the achievements in China's health development. He expressed GSK’s full confidence in the Chinese market, saying that the company will remain committed to the research and development of innovative vaccines and medicines, fulfill its corporate social responsibility and contribute to advancing the Healthy China initiative.

Officials from the relevant departments of the NDCPA attended the meeting.