Gates Foundation visits Beijing to discuss the development of GHDDI
Beijing, September 5th, 2016: On the morning of September 5th, 2016, a delegation led by Mark Suzman, Chief Strategy Officer and President, Global Policy & Advocacy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, visited Beijing and was cordially welcomed at Beijing Municipal Government by SUI Zhenjiang, Deputy Mayor of Beijing. CHENG Jianping, Executive Vice President of Tsinghua University, attended this meeting.
Following a very productive first meeting in March 2016 among Beijing Municipal Government, Tsinghua University and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the parties met again to further promote the development of the Global Health Drug Discovery Institute (GHDDI) in Beijing.
During the meeting, SUI Zhenjiang first highly acknowledged the contribution and support from the Gates Foundation in developing and promoting GHDDI. He then elaborated on the preferential policies and innovative approaches introduced by Beijing Municipal Government in preparation for the establishment of GHDDI. He pointed out that GHDDI was the first of its kind in China in terms of its Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model in nature, allowing the institute to leverage key strengths both from the public and the private sectors. Sui believed that this groundbreaking partnership could have far-reaching significance on the Gates Foundation's future projects with China.
On behalf of the Gates Foundation, Mark Suzman spoke highly of the expertise and support from Beijing Municipal Government and Tsinghua University in developing GHDDI. He expressed that the Foundation was very excited about the ongoing progress and would continue to provide full support to GHDDI's future development.
Later in the meeting, CHENG Jianping mentioned that biomedical research was one of the few key development focuses of Tsinghua University, to become a world-class university. Following the establishment of GHDDI and through its constant innovation in scientific research and translational mechanism, the University could further develop its pharmaceutical and related disciplines significantly.
Key representatives from the Foreign Affairs Office of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality, Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Finance, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Tsinghua University, and the Office of Technology Transfer of Tsinghua University also joined the meeting.
Background:
At a meeting in Davos, Switzerland on January 22nd, 2016, QIU Yong, President of Tsinghua University, and Bill Gates, Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), agreed to co-found the Global Health Drug Discovery Institute (GHDDI) in Beijing, China, and signed a memorandum of understanding.
On March 24th, 2016, representatives from the Gates Foundation visited Beijing to further promote the development of GHDDI. SUI Zhenjiang, Deputy Mayor of Beijing Municipal Government received Dr. Trevor Mundel, President of Global Health Division at the Gates Foundation.
On August 17th, 2016, GHDDI was officially registered in Beijing.
