China continues to promote global health: Premier Li

SHANGHAI -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday said that China will continue to promote global health issues while providing assistance to other developing countries.

Li made the remarks during a speech in Shanghai at the opening ceremony of the 9th Global Conference on Health Promotion (GCHP).

China has taken an active role in pushing forward global health, Li said, adding that China will continue to honor its international obligations.

In the past 50 years China has sent 20,000 medical workers to 67 countries and regions, treating more than 260 million patients, Li said.

When an Ebola epidemic broke out in West Africa in 2014, China immediately sent 1,200 medical workers and public health experts to the affected areas, significantly helping to defeat the epidemic, Li said.

The conference is jointly organized by China and the World Health Organization (WHO) and is being held in Shanghai from November 21 to 24.

Titled "Promoting health in the Sustainable Development Goals: Health for all and all for health," 1,000 representatives from the politics, health and development fields, including leading politicians from over 100 countries, participated in the conference, according to the WHO.

Since the first GCHP in 1986, the conference has become a key platform for the WHO and member states to discuss important global health issues and set the agenda for promoting health worldwide.