In 2015, we forged a partnership with the NSFC to address key challenges in global health and development. The projects we co-fund seek safe, effective, affordable, and scalable scientific innovations that benefit those most in need around the world and contribute to the realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
These projects draw on our global partner network and the experience and expertise of Chinese research teams in relevant fields. They include:
- The Grand Challenges China initiative. Launched in 2015, the program funded four projects at Chinese universities, including Tsinghua University and Fudan University, enabling research on structure-based HIV vaccine design, tuberculosis (TB) drugs, TB vaccines, and clinical trials that aim to shorten the course of TB treatment.
- Grand Challenges: Outdoor Malaria Vector Control. This challenge, launched in 2021, selected six proposals for international collaboration on outdoor malaria vector control. The applicant institutions included the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese universities, and their international partners.
- A Joint Program to Support Climate-Smart Agricultural Innovations for Smallholder Farmers. Launched in 2022, this program funds projects on climate-related challenges that threaten agricultural productivity in low- and middle-income countries. It focuses primarily on climate-smart crop breeding technologies and strategies and index-based weather insurance.
Since 2019, our foundation and the NSFC have jointly sponsored the annual Global Health Symposium to advocate for R&D and innovation and facilitate more collaboration among Chinese and international researchers on the most pressing issues in global health and development. The symposium has become a key platform for academic exchanges between China and the rest of the world.