At the invitation of the German Federal Ministry of Health, Lei Haichao, minister of China's National Health Commission (NHC), led a delegation to Germany.

On Sept 23, Lei met with German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach in Berlin The two sides signed an action plan for cooperation between the health departments of China and Germany from 2024 to 2026, and exchanged in-depth views on bilateral health cooperation.

Lei introduced the key tasks of health reform highlighted at the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. He said that China will promote a health-first strategy and continuously deepen reform in key areas to better safeguard people's health.

He noted that enhancing the health cooperation partnership between China and Germany is beneficial for protecting the health of the peoples of both countries and maintaining global health security.

China is willing to take the signing of the new action plan as an opportunity to strengthen policy communication and coordination with Germany and advance practical cooperation in areas such as chronic non-communicable diseases, infectious diseases, the health industry and traditional medicine, so as to promote the building of a global community of health for all, he added.

Lauterbach appreciated China's effective measures to safeguard public health. Both China and Germany are facing challenges such as aging populations, infectious diseases and chronic non-communicable diseases, and the two countries should strengthen exchanges and mutual learning, strengthen coordination on global health affairs and push forward bilateral cooperation on a substantial level, in bid to jointly contribute to the health and well-being of people around the world, he said.