China and the UK have announced an initiative to combat drug-resistant infections.

The governments will launch a competition for funding for UK - Chinese collaborations to develop solutions to fight the threat of antibiotic-resistant infections.

Innovate UK, which funds science and technology projects in the UK economy, will invest up to 10 million pounds ($12 million) in UK businesses on behalf of the Department of Health.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology will invest up to 60 million yuan ($9 million) to fund the Chinese partners.

The World Health Organization warned that antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security and development, with major diseases becoming harder to treat because the drugs used on them are becoming less effective.

Although new drugs can be developed, the pace of this development cannot catch up with the speed of bacteria evolution. One new antibiotic was discovered last year – the first in nearly 30 years.

Innovate UK said the aim is to support projects that neither country would be able to conduct within the same timeframe without the other's expertise. Both sides should develop new products or services to fight against antimicrobial resistance.

There are a number of goals for the project including exploring traditional Chinese medicine for treatment or prevention of infectious diseases in humans or animals and advancing the discovery of new agents to prevent or treat drug-resistant bacterial infections in humans or livestock

Other plans Innovate UK is hoping the UK-Chinese partnership will identify are new agents that will increase the feed energy conversion in livestock without use of antibiotics or hormones, maximise the clinical utility of current antibiotics and improve capabilities for the diagnosis, treatment selection and surveillance of bacterial infections and antibacterial resistance.

An Innovate UK spokesperson said: "Failure to tackle drug-resistant infections will lead to at least 10 million extra deaths a year by 2050. This would cost the global economy up to $100 trillion. A major research and innovation effort is needed to address the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance. This competition can help to tackle this issue."

Applicants wanting to lead a project must be a UK-based business of any size and there must be at least one partner from the UK and one from China in a project team.

This competition is just the latest in a series of UK efforts to work with Chinese counterparts.

Last month, the Department of International Trade launched an initiative to encourage British nurseries to expand into China as a way to market the UK's expertise abroad.

Contact the writer at [email protected]