​The United States and China have entered a period of strategic competition, but bilateral cooperation on health is more important than ever. Superpowers cannot operate as solitary players—they “cannot bowl alone” in American parlance—in the face of emerging global health threats, and when the benefits of cooperation clearly outweigh the risks associated with cooperation. The Covid-19 pandemic, with its novel nature and devastating impact globally, represents another critical opportunity for bilateral cooperation. 

The chief goal of the U.S.-China Health Cooperation project is to generate a deeper understanding of how the academies, NGOs, business leaders, and governments in the two countries are thinking about key evolving global health challenges and inspire concrete forms of coordinated action in pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. The project is composed of written works, virtual communication, and in-person dialogues.

Publications​

Report
Yanzhong Huang and Scott Kennedy, “Advancing U.S.-China Health Security Cooperation in an Era of Strategic Competition,” CSIS Report, December 1, 2021.

Commentary
Deborah Seligsohn and Scott Kennedy, “The U.S.-China Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement Is Not Yet Obsolete.” CSIS Commentary, June 9, 2025.

Scott Kennedy, “Xi-Biden Meeting May Help End China’s Destructive Isolation,” Foreign Policy, November 14, 2022.

Stephen J. Morrison, Yanzhong Huang, and Scott Kennedy, “China’s Zero Covid: What Should the West Do?” CSIS Commentary, June 27, 2022.

Scott Kennedy, “China’s Neighbors Are Navigating COVID-19, Beijing, and Washington,” Foreign Policy, September 13, 2022.

Blog Post
Scott Kennedy, “China Travelogue Series #2: Living with Zero-Covid,” CSIS Trustee China Hand Blog, December 13, 2022.

Trustee Chair, “Exiting Zero-Covid: China’s Provincial Covid-19 Rules Tracker,” CSIS Trustee China Hand Blog, December 9, 2022.

Scott Kennedy, “China Travelogue Series #1: A Long, Strange Trip: Arrival and Quarantine,” CSIS Trustee China Hand Blog, November 2, 2022.

Contact Information

Experts

Scott Kennedy

Scott Kennedy

Senior Adviser and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics
Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

The U.S.-China Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement Is Not Yet Obsolete

Deborah Seligsohn and Scott Kennedy explain why the recently renewed U.S.-China Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement can help to promote responsible science and technology cooperation between the United States and China.

Commentary by Deborah Seligsohn and Scott Kennedy — June 9, 2025

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China Travelogue #2

In the second episode of his travelogue series, CSIS’s Scott Kennedy discusses what it was like to experience the Zero-Covid policy, the widespread skepticism he encountered, and the consequences of China’s chaotic exit from Zero-Covid. 

Blog Post by Scott Kennedy — December 13, 2022

China Travelogue Series #1

In the first episode of his travelogue series, CSIS’s Scott Kennedy recounts his motives for wanting to visit China, his 10-day quarantine experience in Beijing, and his exit into regular life.

Blog Post by Scott Kennedy — November 2, 2022

China May Move beyond Zero-Covid. That Could Benefit Us All.

China will inevitably move beyond its Zero-Covid approach. How orderly will this transition to a new long-term strategy be? At what price will it occur? And will it involve new partnerships with the external world?

Commentary by J. Stephen Morrison, Scott Kennedy, and Yanzhong Huang — February 9, 2022

U.S.-China Relations and COVID-19: What Can Be Done Now

The COVID-19 pandemic both highlights the need for Sino-American governmental cooperation and, at the same time, reveals the two countries’ inability to do so. Despite this, American and Chinese industry can step up to address shortages of critical equipment and supplies.

Commentary by John L. Holden — March 20, 2020