Health ministers from China, Japan and South Korea resume annual in-person meeting after four years

Health ministers from China, Japan and South Korea gathered in Beijing, China, on Sunday to resume their first in-person talks since 2019, with the three sides issuing a joint statement on cooperation in responding to infectious diseases and future cooperation.

The Sixteenth Tripartite Health Ministers’ Meeting (THMM) reviewed the achievements of health cooperation between China, Japan, and South Korea. It conducted in-depth exchanges on the practices and experiences of the three countries in areas such as health emergency preparedness for infectious diseases, strengthening the resilience of grassroots health systems, promoting the health coverage on the public, and enhancing elderly care services to promote healthy aging. The meeting also discussed the prospects for collaboration among the three parties in these areas.

The meeting approved a joint statement, following which the three parties of China, Japan and South Korea jointly signed a memorandum of understanding on health cooperation.

Lei Haichao, vice minister of China’s National Health Commission (NHC), attended the meeting and met with the health officials from Japan and South Korea, signing the memorandums of understanding on health cooperation with Japan and South Korea, as well as an implementation plan for cooperation in elderly care with Japan, to further refine cooperation in areas such as responding to infectious diseases, preventing and controlling non-infectious diseases, digital healthcare and elderly care.

The trilateral mechanism of the Health Ministers' Meeting between China, Japan and South Korea was established in 2006 and is hosted in turn by the three countries.

More than 60 representatives from the health departments of China, Japan, South Korea, the World Health Organization Western Pacific Region, and the China-Japan-Korea Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat participated in the meeting.