U.S.-China Health Cooperation
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
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.
Experts
All U.S.-China Health Cooperation Content
Filter by
40 Years in the Chinese Medical System: United Family Healthcare Founder Roberta Lipson
Podcast Episode by Scott Kennedy — August 8, 2023

China Travelogue #2
Blog Post by Scott Kennedy — December 13, 2022
Exiting Zero-Covid: China’s Provincial Covid-19 Rules Tracker
Blog Post — December 9, 2022
China Travelogue Series #1
Blog Post by Scott Kennedy — November 2, 2022
China May Move beyond Zero-Covid. That Could Benefit Us All.
Commentary by J. Stephen Morrison, Scott Kennedy, and Yanzhong Huang — February 9, 2022
Better Governance, Better Outcomes: East Asian Experiences Tackling Covid-19
Blog Post by Scott Kennedy — June 2, 2020
China’s Novel Health Tracker: Green on Public Health, Red on Data Surveillance
Blog Post — May 4, 2020
U.S.-China Relations and COVID-19: What Can Be Done Now
Commentary by John L. Holden — March 20, 2020