Lei Haichao, minister of China's National Health Commission, visited Belgium and met with European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare Oliver Varhelyi from May 20 to 21.

The two sides exchanged views on strengthening China-EU health exchanges and cooperation. Cai Run, head of the Chinese Mission to the European Union (EU), was present at the meeting.

Lei said that China and the EU, along with its member states, have a solid foundation for health collaboration. Since the establishment of the China-EU dialogue mechanism on health in 2005, both sides have actively shared information and strengthened policy communication, he noted.

He said that China and EU countries share a common vision and need to ensure access to quality healthcare for all and improve the health of their peoples, adding that the two sides should promote dialogue and communication to jointly address global health challenges, such as the cross-border transmission of infectious diseases.

Varhelyi said that the global health system remains fragile and the international community should work together to strengthen multilateral and bilateral cooperation. The European Commission values EU-China relations, and the two sides should enhance communication in the future to jointly promote cooperation in areas such as infectious disease prevention and control and pharmaceutical innovation, he added.

While in Europe, Lei also visited the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations and Ghent University, where he had in-depth discussions with representatives from the European pharmaceutical industry and academia on topics such as sci-tech innovation in biological medicine and industrial development cooperation, joint training of health personnel, laboratory collaboration and joint research.