China nominates Song Li for WHO chief as agency faces funding shake-up from US exit

China has nominated health official Song Li to run for director general of the World Health Organization, the foreign ministry confirmed on Thursday.

If elected, Song would be the first person from mainland China to head the United Nations health agency.

China previously backed Margaret Chan, a Hong Kong-born doctor and former director of health of Hong Kong, who served as WHO director general from 2007 to 2017.

Song’s nomination comes as the WHO faces a major funding shake-up following the US withdrawal from the organisation, while China has pledged to increase its financial support.

Speaking at a regular press conference in Beijing, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said China believed that, if elected, Song would help the WHO “play a more positive role in improving the health and well-being of all humanity”.

“Against the current backdrop of challenges to multilateralism, global health faces a difficult and demanding task,” Mao noted, adding that the role of the director general would be “particularly important” as the WHO navigated a changing global landscape.

“China’s nomination of Dr Song Li demonstrates China’s willingness to work with all parties to build a community of health for all, and reflects China’s firm support for multilateralism and the WHO,” Mao said.

Song has worked in maternal and children’s health for more than two decades and has experience in health policy and international cooperation, according to the WHO.

She previously worked at China’s National Health Commission, where she served as director general of its Department of Women and Children’s Health.

Since October 2023, Song has served as a member of the secretariat of the All-China Women’s Federation.

China previously nominated Song to run for regional director of the WHO’s Western Pacific Regional Office in 2023.

The US formally left the WHO in January, completing a withdrawal ordered by US President Donald Trump soon after he returned to the White House last year.

The US had been the WHO’s largest financial contributor, and its departure has left the agency facing a significant funding gap. Washington also owes about US$260 million in unpaid assessed contributions.

China last year pledged an additional US$500 million to the WHO over the next five years. Beijing is one of the agency’s largest sources of funding.

Under the WHO’s 2026-27 financing scale, China accounts for more than 20 per cent of assessed contributions, while the US remains assessed at 22 per cent despite its withdrawal.

The WHO became a focal point of US-China tensions during the Covid-19 pandemic, with Washington accusing the agency of being too close to Beijing while China accused the US of politicising the crisis.

Early in the outbreak, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus worked closely with Chinese officials and met President Xi Jinping in Beijing in January 2020.

Washington increasingly challenged the WHO’s handling of the pandemic and its relationship with Beijing. In April 2020, Trump accused the agency of being “China-centric” and threatened to halt US funding.

The tensions have persisted beyond the pandemic. In a report last year, the WHO said it was still seeking information from China needed to assess the origins of Covid-19. Beijing has rejected suggestions that it failed to cooperate.

Song’s nomination comes as Beijing seeks to play a larger role in multilateral institutions, including UN agencies.

Six other candidates – representing Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Qatar, Botswana, Indonesia and Spain – have already made their bids public on the agency’s website. The WHO is expected to publish the full list of candidates early next month.

Tedros is due to complete his second term as director general in August of next year.