CHEN Zhu, Vice Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, former Minister of Health, spoke at the launching ceremony of Institute for Global Health and Development, Peking University (PKU-iGHD) and the Beijing Forum 2020: COVID-19 Shocks to Global Health and Development:

Distinguished guests, dear colleagues, faculties and students. Good morning. I'm happy to make a remark on the launching ceremony of PKU-iGHD, I'd like to send my own congratulations and my deepest respect to all of the experts and scholars who have drawn this global fight of the COVID-19.

For the human beings, health and development has to do with our survival and hope. It has to do with our dignity and power; in the year 2020, the COVID 19 pandemic had further showcased how important global health is. It is the core of human development.

Looking around the world, we need to deal with multi faced challenge of health development, including COVID-19. So the way out, our community of shared future, we need to trust each other, help each other, be more inclusive and fair in the development. Only with health and development, can we eliminate the source of all the conflicts; only by promoting health and development, can we guarantee the basic right of the people. Only by realize health and development, can we better fulfill the need of a better life of mankind.

Right now, we see the unprecedented uncertainties and changes. With COVID-19, the global community is undergoing major changes. It is the most severe pandemic in the century. The world economy is also going through the worst recession, similar to the Depression of the 1920s, but we always believe the aim is peace and development. The world will remain as pre-COVID, the economy will be globalized, the trend will not be reversed.

If we want to have the development of all, we need to step up our cooperation, hold up the banner of multilateralism to face the challenges together.

The establishment of this institute is quite timely and very significant, and I do believe this is an important decision of PKU to train future talent who can lead the global R & D and health and to have talents on global governance against this changing era. This will also showcase the PKU's vision to be a world top-class university. For a long time PKU has contributed in health, economy, politics, and other arenas. The university has accumulated rich resources and great advantages. I hope the PKU-iGHD can uphold the tradition of PKU, take full advantage of their academic studies to help China and the world to improve their governance of global health, coordinate these two important circulations of at both home and abroad, deepen cooperation and have more frequent exchanges with international universities. So together we can work for the well-being of mankind for all.

I do believe with the common effort of us, PKU-iGHD will become an important think-tank for global health and human development. We will be contributing the Chinese wisdom in the near future for the global mission.

Last but not least, I would like to congratulate the establishment of PKU-iGHD, and I wish this Beijing 2020 forum full success. Thank you very much.