China to give US$500 million to WHO in next 5 years

[GENEVA] China will give an additional US$500 million to the World Health Organization over five years, an official told the World Health Assembly on Tuesday (May 20), as the UN agency seeks extra funding to offset the expected loss of its top donor, the United States.

China’s Vice Premier of the State Council Liu Guozhong made the announcement in a speech in Geneva.

“The world is now facing the impacts of unilateralism and power politics, bringing major challenges to global health security... Multilateralism is a sure pass to addressing difficulties,” Liu told delegates.

The WHO has already revised down its 2026-2027 budget by 21 per cent to US$4.2 billion due to its financial difficulties, caused mainly by the Trump administration’s decision.

The new budget set to be decided by the assembly on Tuesday will increase countries’ mandatory fees by 20 per cent over the next two years and will make China the new top state donor.

It was not immediately clear if the US$500 million donation from China already included that fee increase. REUTERS