UN official on China's role in advancing global women's development

China plays a key role in advancing gender equality and women's development globally by increasing investment in South-South cooperation, said Christine Arab, regional director of UN Women Asia and the Pacific.

Arab made the remarks in an interview with China Media Group (CMG) in Beijing ahead of the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women taking place in the Chinese capital from Monday to Tuesday.

She said China's effort to bring the world's attention to women's issues and gender equality through South-South cooperation is of strategic importance.

"Increasingly in the last decade we have seen an increase in the investment in South-South [cooperation] by China around knowledge and innovation, grassroots support to fold in focus on gender equality and women's empowerment. Globally, China is one of UN Women's top 25 financial supporters and has consistently been there since our establishment 15 years ago. And I think that China's emphasis on South-South partnership, its emphasis on sharing what has worked and talking about what isn't working, it's important, because of the fact that it is one of the leading global partners for most countries. Bringing women's issues and gender equality to the table over the last decade, it's been a very important and much needed gap," she said.

To deepen cooperation in capacity-building for women in developing countries, China has initiated over 100 training projects focused on women and children in developing countries since 2018, training nearly 4,000 talents in the field of women's empowerment.

Additionally, China has established a global training base for women's development cooperation and exchange, designing tailored empowerment programs for developing countries. Collaborative training and exchange centers have been set up in partnership with 15 countries. Leveraging the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, China has also implemented women-focused projects in more than 20 countries, with total funding exceeding 40 million U.S. dollars.

UN official on China's role in advancing global women's development

UN official on China's role in advancing global women's development

China on Sunday unveiled an updated version of its national medical insurance drug list and the inaugural edition of the commercial insurance innovative drug list, according to the National Healthcare Security Administration.

The updated national medical insurance drug list has added 114 drugs, among which 50 are innovative pharmaceuticals. It has incorporated certain medications that fill the gaps in basic medical insurance coverage, such as drugs for major diseases, rare diseases, and chronic conditions.

The commercial insurance innovative drug list included 19 drugs for the treatment of tumors, rare diseases, and Alzheimer's, among others.

The country's medical insurance authority has adjusted the list for eight years in a row, increasing the total number of medications to 3,253 and significantly improving coverage in key areas such as oncology, chronic diseases, mental illnesses, rare diseases, and pediatric medications.

China updates national medical insurance catalog, adds 114 new drugs