A very good afternoon.

It is a great pleasure to join you here in the beautiful riverside district of Jiangjin, in the forest of Simianshan, for the International Forum on Sustainable Healthcare and Wellness Tourism.

This is my first visit to Southwest China since taking office as UNDP Resident Representative in China in mid-July. I am very grateful for the warm welcome I have received and I look forward to learning more about this remarkable part of the country.

We meet today at a pivotal moment. Global progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has stalled: only around 35 percent of SDG targets are on track or making moderate progress, while nearly half are moving too slowly and 18 percent are even regressing. To rescue the Global Goals, the remaining years to 2030 must be years of acceleration, integration, and partnership.

That is why today’s forum is so vital. 

Sustainable healthcare and wellness tourism has the potential to be a critical pathway to advance progress on multiple SDGs by harnessing natural and cultural assets to support inclusive livelihoods, healthier lifestyles, ecological stewardship, and better public services.

This is particularly relevant as China begins its 15th Five-Year Plan period, with its emphasis on high-quality, green, and people-centered development, supported by innovation and stronger social services for vulnerable groups. These priorities create important opportunities for initiatives at the local level that translate national ambitions into tangible benefits for communities.

At UNDP, we are keen to support these efforts. Our 2026-2030 Country Program for China focuses on advancing integrated solutions to accelerate sustainable human development alongside a low-carbon and nature-positive transition.

This priority is also central to the broader United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSCDF) in China. By combining UNDP’s expertise with that of other agencies present today including WHO, UNESCO, UN-Habitat, and UNEP, we can work to maximize the impact of sustainable healthcare and wellness tourism and offer more comprehensive and effective development support than any one agency could provide alone.

Alongside all partners, we can support Jiangjin and Simianshan to become examples for how water culture, forests, wellness services, community participation, and sustainable investment can reinforce one another.

Healthcare and wellness tourism can create important new opportunities to empower women, who often shoulder a disproportionate share of unpaid care work and can face additional barriers to income, healthcare and mobility. 

As such, it will be critical to design projects with women’s needs and participation in mind. Through skills development, decent work and entrepreneurship opportunities, women can contribute to decision-making and benefit fully from local tourism value chains.

Moving forward, the Water Culture Empowering Sustainable Tourism Innovation Demonstration Project here in Jiangjin provides a valuable platform, which we can continue building on to bring this integrated and inclusive vision to life.

By combining research, demonstration sites, field learning, and international exchange, the project can help identify practical models that are locally grounded, evidence-based, and scalable. It can also help inform China’s experience sharing with other countries facing similar challenges.

In closing, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges (CICETE), the China Tourism Academy, the Jiangjin District Government, and all partners for bringing us together and making this event possible.

I am also grateful to all UN agencies, experts, and industry partners for your contributions to this shared endeavor.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The SDGs will not be achieved through isolated actions.

They require integrated solutions, strong partnerships, and a commitment to leaving no one behind. I hope this forum will help generate practical ideas, deepen cooperation between the UN system and Chinese partners, and turn the promise of sustainable healthcare and wellness tourism into real and measurable benefits for today’s vulnerable communities, and future generations.

Thank you, and I wish the forum every success.