CDRF Launches Youthful Minds: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Initiative

On November 24, 2023, the China Development Research Foundation (CDRF) and the Fuzhou Municipal People's Government signed an agreement to cooperate on Youthful Minds: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Initiative in Fuzhou, Jiangxi Province. Fang Jin, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of CDRF, gave the opening address; Cai Jianhua, Senior Advisor of CDRF's Child Development Research Institute, and Du Zhixin, Deputy Director of the institute, attended the ceremony; Mr. Sun Qian, Standing Member of the Fuzhou Municipal Party Committee and Deputy Mayor of Fuzhou attended the signing ceremony and delivered a speech; Cai Qing, Vice Mayor of Fuzhou, hosted the ceremony. Experts from China Family Planning Association, Peking University Sixth Hospital, Beijing Academy of Social Sciences and other relevant institutions attended the ceremony.

Fang Jin pointed out that the Party attaches great importance to the work on students' mental health. The current high incidence of mental health problems is a global public health issue that needs to be addressed, and is more prominent in the child and adolescent stage. He said that CDRF will use this pilot project to explore innovative strategies and intervention programs to find a practical path for future policy in this sector, and hopes the parties can work together on data on children and youth, and safeguard their future.

Sun Qian said that CDRF’s support to Fuzhou is deeply welcomed. She believes the pilot project will inject new vitality into Fuzhou’s work on youth mental health, and assured that the municipal government and the education department will work closely together to promote the successful implementation of the pilot project.

After the signing ceremony, Liu Jing, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Sixth Hospital of Peking University, Director of the Children's Mental Health Center, and Vice President of the China Mental Health Association, Wang Feifei, Deputy Director of the International Liaison Office of the China Family Planning Association, and Han Jialing, Researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, gave lectures respectively. The signing ceremony was attended by relevant staff from Fuzhou Municipal Bureau of Education and Sports, Bureau of Health, Bureau of Justice, Civil Affairs Bureau and subsidiaries, and some middle schools in Fuzhou.

Afterwards, the CDRF delegation and related experts held talks with relevant personnel from some county (district) governments, schools, hospitals and social organizations, and visited Linchuan No. 2 Middle School and the Municipal Red Cross Society.