China to give $500 million to WHO in next 5 years, official says

China will give an additional $500 million to the World Health Organization over five years, an official told the World Health Assembly on Tuesday, as the U.N. 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% to $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% over the next two years and will make China the new top state donor.

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

Source: Reuters