Archive · 8 Oct 2026
China Nominates Song Li to Lead World Health Organization
China has nominated Song Li to lead the World Health Organization.
Song has spent much of her career working on healthcare for mothers and children in China.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, she helped explain how care for pregnant women and newborns would continue.
She also ran for a senior WHO regional job in 2023 but did not win.
The WHO will consider candidates and choose its next leader in 2027.
If selected, Song would take over after Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’s term ends.
China says her nomination supports cooperation among countries on health.
The nomination comes as the WHO faces financial and reform challenges.
China formally nominated Song Li on Thursday to become the next director-general of the World Health Organization.
Song has worked in China’s health administration, with a career focused largely on maternal and child health.
During Covid-19, she described measures to protect maternal and newborn care and edited a related national guidance document.
She lost China’s 2023 bid for her to become WHO Western Pacific regional director to Tonga’s Saia Ma’u Piukala.
The WHO Executive Board is expected to shortlist up to three candidates in January 2027, with the World Health Assembly making the appointment in May.
- Who
- China nominated Song Li, a public-health specialist, for WHO director-general.
- What
- Her nomination is part of the process to select the WHO’s next director-general.
- When
- China announced the nomination on Thursday; the appointment is scheduled for May 2027.
- Where
- The nomination is for leadership of the World Health Organization.
- Why
- China said the nomination supports multilateralism and could help the WHO improve health and well-being worldwide.
China’s stated case
Reported geopolitical context
Meaning of the nomination
China’s stated case
China said Song’s nomination demonstrates support for multilateralism and could help the WHO improve health and well-being worldwide.
Reported geopolitical context
Reuters reported that the move could expand Beijing’s influence in the WHO as the United States has stepped back from the organisation.
WHO leadership context
China’s stated case
China has put forward a specialist whose career has included public health, international cooperation, and responses to health emergencies.
Reported geopolitical context
The nomination comes while the WHO faces financial pressure, debates over institutional reform, and continuing fallout from Covid-19.
- Nominee
- Song Li
- Nominating country
- China
- Current director-general
- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
- Current term ends
- August 15, 2027
- Executive Board stage
- Expected to nominate up to three candidates in January 2027
- Final appointment
- World Health Assembly, May 2027, by secret ballot
- Previous WHO regional candidacy
- Song lost the 2023 Western Pacific regional director election to Saia Ma’u Piukala