China Nominates Song Li, Ex-Health Commission Official, to Run for WHO Director-General

China has put forward its candidate to run the World Health Organization. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning confirmed on Thursday, Oct. 8, that Beijing has nominated Dr. Song Li for director-general.

If elected, Song would be the first person from mainland China to lead the U.N. health agency. Margaret Chan, a Hong Kong-born doctor, held the job from 2007 to 2017 with Beijing's backing.

Who is Song Li

Until late last month, Song was Director-General of the Department of Women and Child Health at China's National Health Commission. According to her official biography, she has about 20 years of experience in maternal and child health policy and international cooperation.

The biography says she took part 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 Q&A paper that set national standards for managing maternal and child health during the pandemic.

She trained at Peking University and Shandong Medical University and spent six months in 2010 as a visiting scholar in global health at Harvard. She also sits on the secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation, a body directly supervised by Communist Party leadership, according to Breitbart's reporting.

What Beijing says

Mao framed the bid as a defense of multilateralism. "China's nomination of Dr. Song Li demonstrates China's willingness to work with all parties to build a community of health for all, and reflects China's firm support for multilateralism and the WHO," she told reporters.

Mao said that if Song is elected, "she will help the organization play a more active role in improving the health and wellbeing of all humanity."

The field and the calendar

Song is the seventh declared candidate. The others are Hans Kluge of Belgium, Hanan Balkhy of Saudi Arabia, Hanan Mohammed Al-Kuwari of Qatar, María Neira of Spain, Budi Gunadi Sadikin of Indonesia and Gevorg Tamamyan of Botswana.

The deadline for candidacies was Sept. 24, though governments can take time to announce their picks publicly. The WHO executive board meets in late January and early February and will narrow the list to three. The World Health Assembly then elects the winner in May 2027.

Tedros is finishing his second five-year term and cannot run again. It ends Aug. 15, 2027.

Washington's absence

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to pull the U.S. out of the WHO after returning to office in January 2025. The exit took effect in January 2026. Trump has called the agency a "puppet of China" over its COVID-19 response.

When he first announced a withdrawal in 2020, Trump said, "China has total control over the World Health Organization despite only paying $40 million per year compared to what the United States has been paying, which is approximately $450 million a year." The Trump administration has repeatedly accused the WHO of bias toward China. The WHO rejects that charge.

Health Policy Watch, citing WHO figures, reports that the U.S. owes $280.9 million in unpaid arrears. Member states did not formally recognize the U.S. withdrawal at the May 2026 World Health Assembly. Because of the arrears, Washington still faces suspension of its voting rights at the 2027 assembly that will choose Tedros's successor.

The money

China's projected contribution to the WHO for the 2026-2027 biennium is $320 million, according to figures on the WHO website cited by Health Policy Watch. That makes China the largest state contributor in assessed funding now that the U.S. is out.

China's giving is concentrated in mandatory assessed dues. Traditional wealthy donors in Europe and elsewhere spread more of their money across voluntary and earmarked channels. Overall, China ranks as the fourth-largest donor, behind the Gates Foundation, the European Commission and the World Bank.

Beijing has been seeking bigger roles in U.N. institutions for years. Chinese nationals have led as many as four U.N. organizations at once but now head only one: Qu Dongyu runs the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome.

What happens next

Song's role in the 2020 pandemic guidance is likely to draw scrutiny given the Trump administration's criticism of the WHO's handling of COVID-19. Nothing in her official biography suggests she has led an international body before.

The votes that matter are not on Song's record but on the map. The EU's 27 members hold 27 votes in the assembly, but Health Policy Watch reports the bloc is unlikely to vote together, and two European candidates, Kluge and Neira, could split that support. Whether the U.S. loses its vote in 2027 is another open question. The executive board's cut to three in early 2027 will show whether Song makes the final round.