Under the framework of Global Health Forum (GHF), Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) cohosted the China-Japan New Era Health Forum with Nippon Global Medical Organization on December 22. Attendees were from China and Japan including Chen Zhu, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Zhou Xiaochuan, Vice Chairman of BFA, Li Baodong, Secretary General of BFA, Margaret Chan, President of GHF, Kong Xuanyou, Chinese Ambassador to Japan, Liu Xianfa, Assistant Minister of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of PRC, Wang Qingxian, Secretary of the CPC Qingdao Committee, Sun Jiye, Vice-Governor of Shandong Province, Toshihiro Nikai, Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, Yasuo Fukuda, Former Prime Minister of Japan, Yasuhiro Sato, Vice Chair of Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), Tarumi Hideo, Japanese Ambassador to China, Eiichiro Washio, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan and Hu Jianhua, Director and General Manager of China Merchants Group.

The theme of the Forum is Healthy People, Healthy Planet that suits to the relevant spirit of the just-concluded Central Economic Work Conference. Two venues of the Forum were set in Qingdao, China and Tokyo, Japan respectively. Delegates of two countries centering on topics like China-Japan friendship, green development, energy saving and environmental protection, medical and elderly care services, and co-development of smart, ecological and healthy cities, opened up spirited discussions and reached broad consensus in a lively, friendly and cooperative atmosphere.

Participants from China and Japan basically agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic has made all countries in the world deeply feel that mankind is a community with a shared future, and also demonstrated the traditional friendship between the Chinese and Japanese people once again. Against the backdrop of an ongoing COVID-19, as two major economies in the world, China and Japan should join hands together to make headways and seek deeper cooperation in wider areas including green development, carbon neutrality, medical and elderly care services, healthy urban life. The two sides should shoulder common responsibilities and endeavor to protect environment around the globe and develop healthy business.

Mr. Chen Zhu, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of NPC, pointed out that “Healthy People, Healthy Planet” is a common concept of China and Japan. China is an active advocate and a steady practitioner of international health cooperation. The two countries have promising prospects and great potential for cooperation in the healthcare sector. Both countries should strengthen multilevel and wide-ranging health cooperation, expand personnel exchanges and join hands to overcome common problems facing human health. Mr. Chen Zhu said Japan will host the Tokyo Olympic Games next year and China will host the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, a year that will mark the 50th anniversary of the normalization of the China-Japan diplomatic ties, cooperation between the two countries in the field of health is also bound to be raised to a new level. GHF of BFA can build consensus on deepening exchanges and cooperation in the field of health and contribute wisdom and strength to the development of health career in China, Japan and the world at large.

Mr. Toshihiro Nikai said that during the special period of COVID-19 pandemic, it is of great significance for Chinese and Japanese citizens to discuss a range of topics, including how to deal with the pandemic, with the theme of "health" as the common concern. Because becoming carbon-neutral is of global importance, China and Japan should undertake joint initiatives and actions to move toward fulfilling the Forum's theme. He suggested that China and Japan should work together to build smart and healthy cities oriented toward carbon neutrality.

Mr. Zhou Xiaochuan noted that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) signed recently by 15 countries, including China and Japan, will further promote bilateral economic and trade relations between the two countries. He believes that in the future, China and Japan will seek greater cooperation in key areas including sci-tech innovation, digital economy, smart cities, energy conservation and environmental protection, medical and elderly care, e-commerce and third-party markets. Cooperation of the two sides can be carried out at different scales and levels in medical and health services, elderly care services and health insurance. He hoped that China and Japan will draw on each other's strengths and make due contributions to the building of a community of common health for all.

Mr. Yasuo Fukuda said the global pandemic of COVID-19 resulted from comprehensive factors including climate change and environmental damage. Competition, criticism and mistrust are not conducive to a concerted global response to such international crises. The convention of China-Japan New Era Health Forum is well timed and will play an active role in promoting international solidarity and cooperation and realizing green development and human health.

Mr. Li Baodong pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic is still spreading globally and poses a serious threat to the health and safety of people in all countries. Accelerating the improvement of the quality of health care supply and services is necessary to meet the people's needs for a better life. It is also the foundation for achieving higher quality, more efficient, fairer, more sustainable and safer economic and social development. Secretary General LI Baodong pointed out that China and Japan have broad prospects and great potential for cooperation in the field of medical and health care. It is a common task for all countries, including China and Japan, to focus on regular COVID-19 prevention and control and cooperation in the post-pandemic era. The two countries can carry out active cooperation on joint drug and vaccine research and development and equitable distribution, bilateral and multilateral personnel exchanges and resumption of work and production, and the establishment and improvement of a public health governance system. We welcome the initiative put forward by Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai to jointly build smart and healthy cities between China and Japan.

Mr. Wang Qingxian said against the backdrop of on-going coronavirus around the world, we can jointly protect the lives and health of people in all countries only by strengthening international cooperation. China and Qingdao are close neighbors linked by sea, and Qingdao is one of the Chinese cities with the closest exchanges between the two countries. Thanks to the new development pattern and opportunities brought by RCEP, exchanges and cooperation between the two countries are entering an accelerated stage comprehensively. We look forward to boosting cooperation with Japan in the field of medical and elderly care, and deepening cooperation and exchanges with Japan at a higher and deeper level and in a wider range with health as the medium. We sincerely invite people from all walks of life to attend the Second Conference of GHF in Qingdao next year to jointly push forward international cooperation in the field of global health.

Dr. Margaret Chan said that in the fight against COVID-19 outbreak over the past year, China and Japan have helped each other and worked together to prevent and combat COVID-19, promote orderly resumption of work and production, and make every effort to promote economic recovery. This has once again demonstrated the traditional friendship between China and Japan, and also strengthened the belief that cooperation can achieve win-win results. As two influential countries, China and Japan should continuously enhance practical cooperation in the field of health, including pandemic prevention and control, medical and elderly care services, disaster prevention and reduction, green development and climate change and so on. GHF will provide a platform for dialogue and exchanges between two countries, and pool positive energy for China-Japan cooperation.

Ambassador Tarumi Hideo said that the bilateral aid of masks, protective clothing and other medical supplies between China and Japan during the pandemic has refreshed people about the traditional friendship of the two countries again. A timely and effective sharing of anti-pandemic technologies between the two countries is also crucial to the fight against COVID-19. China and Japan are and will remain each other’s neighbor. Exchanges and cooperation in the field of medical and health care is one of the important areas of cooperation between the two sides. The two countries can carry out practical cooperation in promoting healthy and active aging and developing medical technologies and services.

Ambassador Kong Xuanyou pointed out that in the period to come, cooperation in fighting COVID-19 will remain the most important issue for China and Japan to jointly respond to global challenges, which serves the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples. The two sides should continue to carry forward this spirit, implement the important consensus of the leaders of the two countries, make full use of the wisdom collected at China-Japan New Era Health Forum, explore new models of China-Japan cooperation in post-pandemic era. The two sides should promote the "healthy planet" based on "healthy people", consistently expand the bilateral cooperation on sci-tech innovation, medical and elderly care services, energy conservation and environmental protection, ecological management and green development, so as to play a bigger role for the global victory over the coronavirus outbreak at an early date and make greater contribution to the peaceful development of Asia and the world, lend impetus to China-Japan relations that fit for the requirement of new era.

Mr. Liu Xianfa said that the health cooperation between China and Japan has great potential and broad prospects, and is receiving more and more attention and support from the governments and all sectors of society of the two countries. The two countries should give full play to their complementary advantages, strengthen all-round and in-depth cooperation in medical and pharmaceutical services, elderly care and nursing services, health industry and personnel training, actively address common issues such as aging of population, continuously improve the health and well-being of the two peoples, and jointly create new highlights of practical cooperation. At the same time, local governments of China and Japan should take the opportunity of building "healthy cities" to actively build new platforms and create new opportunities for cooperation.

Mr. Sun Jiye expressed that the pandemic fully demonstrates that all countries are a community with a shared future. We must follow the path of solidarity and cooperation, strengthen in-depth exchanges and work together to tackle various problems. Going forward, we look forward to further strengthening cooperation with Japan in the areas of medical, elderly-care and health industries, high-end medical care, health and elderly care industry, the combination of medical and elderly care, health management, personnel training and rehabilitation, so as to achieve more results.

Mr. Eiichiro Washio pointed out that to combat COVID-19 that threatens human health, countries around the world need to work together to share information, lessons and experiences in a transparent and timely manner. Launching cooperation in areas affecting human health is undoubtedly one of the priorities for future China-Japan cooperation, especially since the leaders of the two countries recently reached important consensus on achieving the goal of carbon neutrality and building a climate change dialogue agency. China and Japan should articulate a vision for future development for next several decades, learn from each other, promote open and fair cooperation, and contribute to the health of the planet.

Hu Jianhua, Director and General Manager of China Merchants Group, said that the big health industry is one of the most potential industries for cooperation between China and Japan. He suggested that the two countries should promote the deep integration of medical, pharmaceutical, recreation and other related industrial chains and supply chains, and strengthen the cooperation in diagnosis and testing, biomedical R&D and manufacturing, high-quality medical care, rehabilitation and elderly care, digital medical care, and fight against COVID-19.

Dang Xiaolong, Secretary of the CPC Baoding Committee, Hebei Province, said that in recent years, Baoding City has taken life and health industry as its main direction， strengthened the cooperation with advanced foreign medical institutions, and planned to build an international medical base. Baoding will deepen open-up to attract renowned medical institutions and enterprises at home and abroad, and promote the cooperation with the Japan in modern agriculture, low-carbon ecological industry and especially in medical care, so as to share new opportunities and build a new future together.   

HU Yuankun, Mayor of the Meishan Municipal People's Government, Sichuang Province, said that in recent years, Meishan has made plans and exploration in coping with the aging of the population and promoting medical and health care, with a focus on the integration of medical and health care, industrial support and project-driven. Meishan is currently building China-Japan international hospitals, international elderly care centers and other industrial projects to build an international city of health care. We hope that we can develop medical and health care products in collaboration with Japan side, strengthen the exchange of talents and training, and jointly build a large scale and more advanced health industry.

Tadashi Maeda, Executive Director of Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), said that Japan also attaches great importance to the development of hydrogen energy to fulfill the goal of decarbonization. There will be a huge demand for hydrogen energy in the Chinese market, and Japan hopes to further promote cooperation with Chinese enterprises in this field, relying on the policy and financial support from China and Japan.

Established by the BFA in 2018, GHF is an important platform for international health exchanges and cooperation. The China-Japan New Era Health Forum is an important meeting within the framework of GHF aiming to promote friendly exchanges between China and Japan and promote practical cooperation in green development, carbon neutrality and medical and elderly care. The Forum was held both online and offline, attracting more than a million online visitors.