My wife Melinda and I recently released our new annual letter, titled “Our Big Bet for the Future.” That Big Bet is this: The lives of people in poor countries will improve faster over the next 15 years than at any other time in human history – and their lives will improve more than anyone else’s during that period.

What does this have to do with China? Plenty.

In fact, it’s probably no exaggeration to say that the world can’t make good on this Big Bet without China’s participation – and its innovation.

One sign of China’s importance is the role it has played in the extraordinary gains the world has made against extreme poverty and disease in recent decades.

For example, extreme poverty fell by half globally between 1990 and 2010. A large part of this has been thanks to the impressive gains made in China and South Asia.

In fact, China – which has lifted some 600 million people out of poverty in just 30 years – accounts for much of the world’s progress in meeting the United Nations Millennium Development Goal on poverty reduction.

China has also made a significant contribution to bridging health inequality over the past decade-and-a-half by leading the world in terms of annualized rates of decline in both under-five child mortality and maternal mortality.

Because of the vastness of China’s population, any meaningful improvements in health and economic development here have a major impact on worldwide measures of wellness and prosperity. To put it bluntly, you can’t be serious about improving the lot of humanity without paying close attention to the country that roughly one human being in five calls home.

That’s one reason why our foundation has made a point of establishing an office here in China. But there’s another important rationale for setting up operations here: China is emerging as an important source of investment and innovation, and has much to offer in the global fight against disease and extreme poverty in the years and decades to come.

We are already seeing more health and agricultural products developed and produced by Chinese companies – including low-cost vaccines, small-farming machinery, and affordable technologies for diagnosing such diseases as HIV and tuberculosis.

Some of these products have already shown genuine potential to save lives and improve productivity in lower-income countries.

For example, the Chengdu Institute of China National Biotech Group (CNBG) has developed a new vaccine for Japanese encephalitis, a deadly disease endemic throughout much of Asia. Last year, it became the first Chinese-manufactured vaccine to pass WHO prequalification.

Since prequalification was initiated in 2006, over 250 million doses have been distributed outside of China. One reason for the vaccine’s widespread adoption is its low cost – only a fraction of the price offered by other manufacturers.

We look to China to increase its investments in the health and agriculture sectors, not only to address its own domestic development challenges (including significant disparities among provinces in child-mortality rates), but also to help other emerging countries pull millions of people out of poverty.

Our foundation has long focused on helping bring about health and development gains in Sub-Saharan Africa. As a nation with immediate experience in dealing with many of the challenges of the developing world, China has great potential to contribute to Africa’s continued progress against poverty and disease.

The Ebola epidemic illustrated China’s increased willingness to help address acute challenges in Africa, and inexpensive Chinese products such as high-quality seeds, good medical diagnostics, and vaccines can help meet a range of health and development needs on the continent.

Our foundation is guided by the principle that all lives have equal value, and that every person deserves the chance to live a healthy, productive life. That core principle is the impetus for our Big Bet – and for our strong interest in working with the Chinese people to help us all come out on the winning side.