China confirms nomination of senior health official for WHO chief's post amid COVID scrutiny

Beijing: China has nominated a senior public health official for the post of Director-General of the World Health Organization, Beijing confirmed on Thursday, a move that could bring renewed global attention to China's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unresolved question of the virus's origins.

Dr Song Li, a senior official of China's National Health Commission, has worked for more than two decades in maternal and child health and international health cooperation.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, she played a major role in coordinating measures to protect pregnant women, newborns and children and in maintaining essential maternal and child healthcare services, according to her official profile.


Song also has experience in handling other health emergencies, including the SARS outbreak in 2002, according to her official profile.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning confirmed Song's nomination at a media briefing on Thursday when asked about reports that China was putting forward her name to succeed WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, whose second and final term ends on August 15, 2027.

Asked whether China planned to nominate Song to lead the WHO and whether the move would give Beijing an opportunity to expand its influence following the US withdrawal from the organisation, Mao said the WHO, as a specialised UN agency for health, plays a leading and coordinating role in global health governance.

"At present, multilateralism is facing severe challenges, and the development of global public health remains a long-term and arduous task. Amid the changing landscape and new circumstances, the Director-General has a crucial role to play in ensuring the WHO's steady and sustained progress," she said.

"We believe that if Doctor Song Li is elected, it will help the WHO play a more positive role in promoting the health and wellbeing of all humanity," she said.

If elected, Song would become the second person from China to head the WHO, after Margaret Chan, who served as Director-General from 2007 to 2017.

The nomination comes amid the US withdrawal from the WHO under President Donald Trump, who criticised the organisation's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its funding arrangements. The US had been the WHO's largest donor, contributing through both assessed and voluntary contributions.

The move could also revive scrutiny of China's handling of the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak and the still-unresolved question of the origins of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

The WHO's Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), in its independent assessment published in 2025, said the weight of available evidence favoured a zoonotic spillover. However, it also said that important information needed to fully evaluate the origins of the virus had not been provided.

The WHO said all hypotheses must remain on the table, including zoonotic spillover and a possible laboratory leak. It had also said China did not provide hundreds of genetic sequences from people infected early in the pandemic, detailed information on animals sold at markets in Wuhan, or information on work and biosafety conditions at laboratories in the city.

Tedros has repeatedly called for more information on the origins of COVID-19. In 2025, he said that all hypotheses remained open and urged China and other countries with relevant information to share it.

China has rejected allegations that the virus leaked from a laboratory. In a 2025 white paper, its National Health Commission said China had shared information with the WHO and the international community, provided the virus's genome sequence and invited international experts to China for joint research. The white paper said the WHO-China joint study and other investigations had concluded that a laboratory incident was "extremely unlikely".