Zhao Fengtao, Vice Chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency, attended the opening ceremony of the forum and delivered a speech
date：2024-02-20 17:59:36 views：
On September 6th, the 6th Belt and Road Forum for Traditional Chinese Medicine Development, as a summit forum of the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services, was successfully held at the Beijing National Convention Center. The forum was co-hosted by the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, with the theme: 'Deepening Cooperation of Belt and Road Traditional Chinese Medicine Development and Jointly Creating a Global Community of Health for All'. Officials from Chinese and foreign government departments, representatives from international organizations, academicians from the Academy of Engineering, Nobel laureates, and leaders from the political consultative conferences of 10 provinces including Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Jiangxi, Fujian, Sichuan, Gansu, Hebei, and Henan, alongside diplomats from 20 embassies stationed in China from countries such as South Africa, Israel, Belarus, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Cape Verde, Liberia, Sri Lanka, Uruguay, and Cuba, as well as representatives from over 400 enterprises, participated in the event.
Zhao Fengtao, Vice Chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency, attended the opening ceremony of the forum and delivered a speech
Esteemed Commissioner Yu Yanhong, Vice President Li Xikui, Deputy Mayor Jin Wei, distinguished guests, and diplomats,
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning!
It is a great honor to attend the 6th Belt and Road Forum for Traditional Chinese Medicine Development. On behalf of the China International Development Cooperation Agency and Chairman Luo Zhaohui, I extend heartfelt congratulations on the convening of this forum.
As we are aware, the aftermath of the pandemic lingers, global recovery is sluggish, the United Nations development agenda is hindered, and global development faces severe challenges. In 2021, President Xi Jinping solemnly proposed the ‘Global Development Initiative,’ sounding a clarion call for focused development and revitalized cooperation. The international community warmly responded and actively supported, collectively propelling significant early achievements of the ‘Global Development Initiative.’
In July this year, our agency successfully held the ‘First High-Level Conference of the Forum on Global Action for Shared Development’, with 158 countries, regions, and international organizations, and nearly 1500 representatives attending both online and offline. This event once again highlighted the cohesion and appeal of the ‘Global Development Initiative’, reflecting the universal aspiration for joint development. I seize this opportunity to express gratitude for the support towards our agency and look forward to further deepening communication with all parties to contribute anew to China’s international development cooperation.
Ladies and gentlemen, traditional Chinese medicine is a treasure of Chinese culture, a conduit for cultural exchanges and mutual learning with other nations, and a valuable resource for improving global health and wellbeing. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. Over the past decade, China’s foreign aid has actively promoted development, providing assistance and support in traditional Chinese medicine to countries in need, accelerating its integration into the Belt and Road, and making significant contributions to global health improvement and combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
— In countries like Ethiopia, Moldova, Eritrea, and Malaysia, China has established or cooperated in creating traditional Chinese medicine centers, dispatching experts to provide diagnostic and treatment services, benefiting local patients. Concurrently, training in traditional Chinese medicine has been implemented for countries along the route. Over the years, more than 1000 traditional Chinese medicine practitioners have been trained. Artemisinin, a highly effective antimalarial drug discovered and successfully extracted in China, has been at the core of technical assistance for antimalarial centers in over 30 countries, providing antimalarial drugs and organizing hundreds of training sessions, saving millions of lives globally.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China has sent 38 anti-pandemic expert teams to 34 countries, where traditional Chinese medicine played a vital role. Through developing traditional Chinese medicine treatment plans, donating proprietary Chinese medicines, herbal medicines, acupuncture equipment, and other supplies, significant contributions were made to the fight against the pandemic. Last year, China dispatched the world’s first 12-member traditional Chinese medicine anti-pandemic expert team to Cambodia, continuously supporting pandemic prevention and control.
Ladies and gentlemen, a decade of practice has fully demonstrated that traditional Chinese medicine belongs not only to China but to the world. We are pleased to see traditional Chinese medicine gaining increasing attention and recognition internationally, and its high-quality integration into the Belt and Road Initiative looks even more promising. As a newly established department, the China International Development Cooperation Agency is dedicated to managing China’s foreign aid and international development cooperation. We are eager to actively promote international development cooperation in traditional Chinese medicine, building traditional Chinese medicine hospitals, treatment centers, and research centers for countries in need, engaging in herbal cultivation and processing cooperation, implementing more talent exchange and training projects, offering more free traditional Chinese medicine diagnostic and treatment services, and supporting health system and medical capacity building in underdeveloped countries.
We will promote the better integration of traditional Chinese medicine into the Belt and Road Initiative. Relying on traditional Chinese medicine, we will strengthen development cooperation with countries along the route in infectious disease control, emergency health response, and talent training, enhancing capabilities to prevent and control major diseases, and facilitating the deep integration of traditional Chinese medicine products, technologies, and standards into the Belt and Road initiative. Support for smart healthcare industry cooperation in the field of traditional Chinese medicine will be accelerated, implementing digital and intelligent traditional Chinese medicine assistance projects, and providing more telemedicine services, using modern technology to empower the development of traditional Chinese medicine.
We will actively promote the participation of traditional Chinese medicine in global health governance. China will closely monitor the global public health situation, actively respond to major public health challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, continue to play a constructive role, and actively provide humanitarian assistance, including traditional Chinese medicine. China will strengthen cooperation with the United Nations system, especially the World Health Organization, providing more international public goods in traditional Chinese medicine, offering Chinese solutions to bridge the medical resource gap and improve global health governance.
Ladies and gentlemen, as a typical representative of Chinese excellent traditional culture, traditional Chinese medicine is writing a splendid story of benefiting the Belt and Road and the people of the world. We look forward to sharing insights with all guests, jointly promoting the better integration of traditional Chinese medicine into the Belt and Road Initiative, and contributing more wisdom and strength to the development of human health and well-being. I wish the forum great success and thank you all.