On September 16th, 2022, the event to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the China Welfare Institute  (CWI) International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital (IPMCH) and the opening of its Fengxian Branch was held. As the first newly opened AAA Grade specialized hospital among the Five New Cities in Shanghai, the Fengxian Branch of IPMCH will further enhance the maternal and child health services in southern Shanghai, thereby delivering quality medical services to the people in and around Fengxian District.

The event was attended by Wang Jiarui, Vice Chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and Chairman of CWI, Zhang Wenkang, former Minister of the Ministry of Health of the People’s Republic of China, former Vice Chairman of CWI, and Lifetime Honorary President of China Maternal and Child Health Association, Zong Ming, Vice Mayor of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, Jiang Liang, Vice Chairman of the 12th Shanghai Municipal CPPCC Committee and Vice Chairman of CWI, Wang Yayuan, Vice Director of the Publicity Department of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, Zhang Xiong, Secretary of Leading Party Members’ Group and Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, and Director of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Healthcare, Xia Kejia, Secretary of Leading Party Members’ Group and Director of Shanghai Municipal Healthcare Security Administration, Li Zheng, Secretary of the Fengxian District Party Committee, Zhang Xiaomin, Vice Chairman, Secretary of Leading Party Members’ Group and Secretary General of CWI, Yuan Quan, Deputy Secretary of the Fengxian District Party Committee and Chief Executive of Fengxian District, Wang Xingpeng, Director of Shanghai Hospital Development Center, Jiang Fan, Party Secretary of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Chen Qiwei, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, General Manager, and Vice President of Shanghai United Media Group (SUMG), Wang Zhiping, Supervisory of Shanghai Media Group (SMG), Wang Yu, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality, Wu Qianyu, Class-A Counselor of Shanghai Municipal Health Commission and Executive Deputy Director of the Committee for Handling Proposals of the Shanghai Municipal CPPCC Committee, along with nearly 100 leaders and guests from Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau as well as medical units in Xuhui and the rest of the city including Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center and Huadong Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University.

Cheng Weiwei, President and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of IPMCH, presided over the event, during which the guests watched the promotional video “Flag of Life” for IPMCH’s 70th anniversary and Liu Zhiwei, Secretary of the Party Committee of IPMCH, delivered a welcoming speech by saying that the launch and operation of the Fengxian Branch of IPMCH marked the new stage for IPMCH to realize its strategic development under the 14th Five-Year Plan. Thetwobranches in Xuhui and Fengxian will be operated synergically to complement each other’s strengths, developing specialized features and high-quality medical services while being committed to building a high-level clinical research center and a translational center, so as to bring the overall quality of the maternal and child health system to a whole new height.

In his address, Zhang Xiaomin noted that IPMCH is an integral part of CWI’s undertakings. The building of the Fengxian Branch of IPMCH stands as a powerful initiative of CWI to take an active role in the construction of the Five New Cities in the new era and strive to boost the coverage of high-quality medical resources. Looking into the future, CWI will carry forward the spirit of the important instruction made by General Secretary Xi Jinping in his congratulatory letter to honor the 80th anniversary of the establishment of CWI and implement the decisions and deployment of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and the Shanghai Municipal Government, alongside the improvement of scientific research to play a leading role, talent cultivation, managerial capability, and domestic and international exchanges, in an effort to bring maternal and child health in China to a new dimension based on a higher, broader vision, utmost diligence, and unremitting endeavor.

Li Zheng said in his speech that the Fengxian Branch of IPMCH is the first AAA-grade hospital in Fengxian District and the hospital’s completion marks a crucial milestone in Fengxian’s development of medical and healthcare services. By keeping firmly in mind the big picture and the fundamental interests of our country, Fengxian will always put people first to fulfill the significant concept of people’s city and continuously enhance the city functions. With the opening of the Fengxian Branch of IPMCH as a strong underpinning, more pragmatic measures, better services, and stronger support will be conducted to empower IPMCH to become “an exemplary hospital in China and an influential hospital on a global scale” that integrates medicine, education, industry, academia and research to meet people’s needs for better lives and health.

Zhang Xiong stated in his speech that IPMCH, as the first maternal and child health hospital in China founded by Soong Ching Ling, one of the founders of the People’s Republic of China, the Honorary Chairwoman of the PRC, and the founder of CWI, has grown into a national baby-friendly hospital, an AAA-grade Ob-Gyn Hospital, and a hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, integrating medical treatment, healthcare, teaching, and scientific research. At this historical juncture, it is our sincere hope that IPMCH will continue to take the lead in the industry by ceaselessly elevating its scientific research, expanding the demonstration effect and influence of its quality resources, and exploring new development modes of the industry, thereby contributing more greatly to safeguarding the rights and interests of women and children and strengthening their health.

On behalf of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, Zong Ming congratulated the opening of the Fengxian Branch of IPMCH and the 70th anniversary of IPMCH’s establishment. She pointed out that at the critical juncture for the Five New Cities to make great headway, the Fengxian Branch of IPMCH stands as a landmark project in Shanghai’s new spatial dynamic in line with the 14th Five-Year Plan, especially in Fengxian New City. Over the past seven decades, IPMCH has always upheld Soong Ching Ling’s conviction that “we will always stand with the Party”. In conformity with the national conditions and people’s livelihoods, it endeavors to meet the needs of the nation and people by carrying out experimental and exemplary work in maternal and child health, strengthening scientific research, and elevating international exchanges and cooperation, thereby contributing its own part to the cause of women and children in Shanghai and China at large with remarkable achievements. She expressed her hope that on the new starting point, IPMCH would facilitate academic and technological innovation to improve its medical services, so as to carry forward Soong Ching Ling’s lofty cause of maternal and child health to deliver greater benefits to more families.

Three young employees from IPMCH and three senior staff, Zhuang Liuqi, Wang Yasun and Li Guowei, conducted a “dialogue across time and space” to trace the roots that have shaped the Hospital’s spirit.

The CWI Special Fund of Shanghai Soong Ching Ling Foundation was jointly launched at the event by Wang Yu, Yu Xiaoqian, Executive Vice President and Secretary General of CWI, Song Zhongbei and Zhang Ming, members of Leading Party Members’ Group and Deputy Secretary Generals of CWI, which indicates strong support for scientific research in the field of maternal and child health, along with the promotion of relevant science education programs and talent cultivation in the years to come, leading to more robust growth in maternal and child health in China and more comprehensive child bearing and rearing services to protect women’s health throughout their lifetime and ensure infants’ healthy growth.

Wang Jiarui and Zhang Wenkang jointly inaugurated the Soong Ching Ling Institute of Maternal and Child Health. Initiated by CWI, the Institute is dedicated to scientific research by focusing on key issues including fertility regulation, birth defect prevention and control, developmental sources of chronic diseases, and women’s life-cycle health management in accordance with the national population development plan and the “Healthy China” initiative. At the same time, it works to openly recruit high-level outstanding talents both at home and abroad, encourage interdisciplinary and cross-domain cooperation, exploration and collaborative innovation, with aview to yielding a cluster of original and iconic scientific fruits, fostering a personnel team with exceptional leadership and innovation capability, and ultimately, establishing itself as an internationally-prestigious maternal and child health research institution.

CWI signed strategic cooperation agreements with Shanghai Fengxian District People’s Government and Shanghai United Media Group respectively for cooperation in public services such as after-school education, children-oriented culture, charitable causes, publishing and distribution and for the combined effort in the Party building. With the backing of CWI’s quality maternal and child healthcare resources and Fengxian’s advantages in its industrial clusters, spatial carrier, and preferential policy incentives in the cosmetics and health sectors, the two sides strive for the all-round promotion of maternal and child healthcare of Fengxian and more refined quality of urban functions. Both parties stand ready to dig deeper into cooperative projects in maternal and child health development, education and teaching reforms, children’s cultural innovation, response to national strategies, and international exchanges and cooperation expansion.

CWI and SUMG will integrate their resources and complement each other’s strengths to carry out cooperation in maternal and child healthcare, science popularization, science education on and off campus, children-oriented culture, and social welfare in an in-depth and extensive manner, launching a cascade of public welfare projects and brands that will take the lead in the new era, including the partnership in propelling the building of “CWI KIDS” as well as after-school curricula and competitions with distinctive features, so that our people can enjoy a greater sense of fulfillment and happiness.

To culminate the ceremony, Wang Jiarui, Zhang Wenkang, Zong Ming, Jiang Liang, Wang Yayuan, Zhang Xiong, Xia Kejia, Li Zheng, Zhang Xiaomin, Wang Xingpeng and Jiang Fan jointly pushed the lever as a token of the opening of the Fengxian Branch of IPMCH, followed by the field visit to it by Wang Jiarui and other distinguished guests after the event.

As a major construction project in Shanghai, the Fengxian Branch of IPMCH is situated at the junction of Jinqian Highway and Wanghe Road in Fengxian New City, housing 500 beds in its over 100,000-square-meter floor space. Equipped with departments of obstetrics and gynecology as well as medical centers specializing in reproduction, fetus, and prenatal diagnosis, it boasts a complete set of obstetrics and gynecology chains. Looking into the future, IPMCH’s two branches in Xuhui and Fengxian will forge a development pattern featuring one cardinal principle and two focal points for the improvement of service quality and scientific research capability, gaining a strong foothold in Shanghai, wielding its power in the Yangtze River Delta, and facing the whole nation, so as to become the most influential obstetrics and gynecology hospital in China and earnestly fulfilling the obligations bestowed by the times and its mission of serving women and children.