China's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday 8 October that it had nominated health official Song Li to lead the World Health Organization, confirming a Reuters report that she had been put forward to succeed the incumbent director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters that, if elected, Song Li would help the WHO play a more active role in improving the health and wellbeing of all mankind.

“The development of global health has a long way to go. The role of the director-general of WHO is particularly important in how to make steady progress.”

Who Song Li is

Reuters, citing an official bio, describes Song as a senior public health official with 20 years of expertise in maternal and child health policy and international cooperation, while a WHO profile cited by 20minutes gives 21 years. She played an active role in national responses to SARS, bird flu outbreaks and COVID-19. In 2020 she was editor in chief of a COVID-19 prevention and control question-and-answer paper that set national standards for managing maternal and child health during the pandemic. RFI reports that she would be the first Chinese woman born on the continent to head the WHO, after Hong Kong-born Margaret Chan, whom Beijing backed in 2007. RFI's Chinese-language report describes her as a former head of the maternal and child health department of China's National Health Commission and currently a secretary of the All-China Women's Federation secretariat.

Timetable and rival candidates

Tedros, an Ethiopian, has led the WHO since 2017 after being re-elected in 2022, and he cannot seek a further term. He leaves office on 15 August 2027, according to RFI. The succession process began in April 2026, according to the WHO website cited by 20minutes, with candidacies due by 24 September. Beijing had not revealed its candidacy before that deadline passed. Reuters reports that six candidates have had their identities published on the WHO website, representing Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Qatar, Botswana, Indonesia and Spain. RFI counts seven officially declared candidates, including Song Li, and names Maria Neira (Spain), Hans Kluge (Belgium), Hanan Balkhy (Saudi Arabia), Budi Gunadi Sadikin (Indonesia), Hanan Mohammed Al-Kuwari (Qatar) and Gevorg Tamamyan, an Armenian paediatric oncologist and haematologist proposed by Botswana. The Executive Board will put a maximum of three candidates to the World Health Assembly, which will choose in May 2027. The WHO expects to publish the full list of nominees after final regional committee meetings in early November.

Political backdrop

The United States under President Donald Trump is winding down its engagement with the UN and some of its constituent organizations, and RFI links the nomination to Washington's withdrawal from the WHO this year. The Trump administration has repeatedly criticised the WHO's handling of the pandemic and accused it of bias toward China, where COVID-19 originated, accusations the WHO rejects. Beijing has long sought more responsibility within UN agencies and other multilateral bodies. A former WHO senior official told Reuters that China may use the candidature as leverage to gain greater influence by making sure there are more Chinese senior officials at the organization.

“China's nomination helps to jointly promote the construction of a health global community and demonstrates China's firm support for multilateralism.”

Analysts cited by Voice of America, as reported by RFI, say a Chinese official heading a UN agency could face scrutiny over independence and decision-making fairness, particularly on issues such as Taiwan's participation in the World Health Assembly.