On June 18, 2026, Vice President Han Zheng held separate meetings in Beijing. He met with a delegation of well-known entrepreneurs led by Joly, Canada's Minister of Industry, and with Sorenson, who chairs both the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the board of directors of Novo Nordisk.
During his meeting with Joly and his delegation, Han Zheng stated that in January this year, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Carney held a successful meeting in Beijing, reaching important consensus on a series of major issues. China and Canada have highly complementary economies, and their cooperation holds enormous potential. China stands ready to work with Canada to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of both countries, consolidate cooperation in traditional areas, strengthen cooperation in emerging fields such as new-energy vehicles and artificial intelligence, and advance the China–Canada new-type strategic partnership on a healthy, stable, and sustainable track.
乔利表示,加方高度重视发展对华关系,愿同中方深化企业互利合作,推动加中关系健康稳定发展。
Joly stated that the Canadian side attaches great importance to the sound and steady development of its relations with China, and is ready to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation between enterprises.
When meeting with Sorenson, Han Zheng said that the Chinese government attaches great importance to people's health, and will accelerate the building of Healthy China during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, aiming to raise the average life expectancy to 80 years. It is hoped that Novo Nordisk will give full play to its strengths and actively contribute to the Healthy China initiative. The Chinese side will continue to expand high-standard opening-up, consistently foster a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized, and support foreign-invested enterprises, including Novo Nordisk, in achieving even greater success in China.
Sorenson stated that Novo Nordisk is optimistic about China's economic prospects, and will continue to expand its operations in China, participate in the development of China's pharmaceutical industry, and make greater contributions to the Healthy China initiative.