Bill Gates announced a grandiose gift for China during his visit to the country this week.
The vaccine enthusiast unveiled $50 million in funding to support a joint disease and medicine research organization in China.
The organization is called the Global Health Drug Discovery Institute (GHDDI).
“The success of this institute will play an important part in winning the fight against infectious diseases that disproportionately affect the poorest in developing countries,” a Bill Gates quote read on its website.
“China has made significant gains reducing poverty and improving health outcomes within China. I’m hopeful China can play an even bigger role in addressing the current challenges, particularly those facing African countries,” Gates said during a speech Thursday at the GHDDI in Beijing.
Bill Gates unveils US$50 million for joint health research with China https://t.co/tGWUrBa9jL
— South China Morning Post (@SCMPNews) June 15, 2023
South China Morning Post reports:
The non-profit institute, jointly founded in 2016 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Tsinghua University and the Beijing municipal government, has the stated mission of improving long-term global health by accelerating development of new drugs and innovative technologies to tackle diseases that disproportionately affect the developing world.
Gates, who visiting China for the first time since 2019, announced that his foundation and the local government would each provide US$50 million to GHDDI over the next five years to bolster the institute’s drug discovery capacity, while Tsinghua would lend support in areas such as building and sharing research platforms, translating research discovery and developing talent.
“China has invaluable experience to share from its own successes in health, agriculture, nutrition, and poverty reduction. And it has talent,” Gates said, adding that young people in labs, start-ups and classrooms across the country were “inventing the solutions of the future”, including new medicines, technologies and “climate-smart” crops.
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Forbes: "Gates Foundation To Donate $50 Million, Partner With Beijing And Tsinghua To Fight Infectious Disease"
WHAT THIS REALLY MEANS: Bill Gates is funneling MILLIONS into the Chinese Communist Party.https://t.co/m352K9Yq3l
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) June 15, 2023
Bill Gates arrived in China days ahead of planned visit by U.S. Secretary of State Anothy Blinken amid geopolitical strains. https://t.co/fMJ4e1bW4r
— Forbes (@Forbes) June 15, 2023
Forbes added:
GHDDI primarily focuses on developing new drugs for communicable diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria, which have a significant impact on women, children, people living with HIV/AIDS, and other vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income countries, the statement said.
Gates has a fortune worth $116.9 billion on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List today and ranks as the world’s sixth richest person.
He arrived in China ahead of a planned visit in the coming days by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken amid strained ties between the world’s two largest economies.
GHDDI is a member of a partnership network including scientific research institutes and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
From GHDDI:
GHDDI is dedicated to creating a comprehensive and interconnected industry chain for new drug research and development on a global scale. This goal is achieved through the establishment of collaborations with over 40 of the world’s top scientific research institutes, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, technology enterprises, and disease alliances across different fields. GHDDI is the first Chinese member organization joining MalDA and the only representative in Asia at CARE.
With $50 million from Bill Gates, GHDDI should remain on our radar in the coming years.
As WLTReport noted, Gates is expected to meet with Xi Jinping during his visit to China.
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