On Aug 23, Zhao Junning, Deputy Commissioner of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), met with a delegation led by Murray Lumpkin, head of the global regulatory systems initiatives for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Zhao thanked the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for its strong support for China's drug regulatory work. The two sides reviewed recent cooperation in the National Regulatory Authority assessment of vaccines by the World Health Organization and capacity building for drug evaluators and inspectors, and highly appreciated the progress made in cooperation projects. They also discussed further collaboration and agreed to continue working together to protect and promote global public health.

The delegation was accompanied Zheng Zhijie, chief representative of the foundation's Beijing office. Officials from the NMPA’s Department of Science, Technology and International Cooperation, Center for Drug Evaluation, Center for Food and Drug Inspection, Center for Drug Reevaluation, and China Center for Food and Drug International Exchange participated in the event.