H.E. Dr. Lai Ching-te is the 16th President of the Republic of China (Taiwan).President Lai Ching-te was born in 1959 in New Taipei City’s Wanli District. He received his B.S. from National Taiwan University’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, completed the Post-Bachelor Program in Medical Science at National Cheng Kung University, and then obtained a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University.

In 1998, Dr. Lai was elected to the Legislative Yuan representing Tainan City. Leveraging his medical expertise, he played a dynamic role in the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee while addressing over 100,000 local issues. He chaired the legislature’s bipartisan Health, Welfare and Environment Foundation and was also part of a lobby group promoting Taiwan’s World Health Organization (WHO) membership. During his four consecutive terms (1999-2010), Dr. Lai was nominated as the "Best Legislator" by Citizen Congress Watch.

In 2010, President Lai was elected as the mayor of Tainan City, and was later reelected in 2014, winning by a wide margin of 72% of the vote. As mayor from 2010 to 2017, Dr. Lai also actively promoted city diplomacy, working closely with the Japanese, National Diet, and the private sectors to promote exchanges and sister-city agreements, enhancing substantive ties in culture, tourism, sports, agriculture, and disaster relief.

Taking on new leadership responsibilities in troubling times, President . Lai served as Taiwan’s premier from 2017 to 2019, and served as the 15th-term vice president from 2020 to 2024. In January 2023, President Lai began concurrently serving as DPP chairperson. In the same year, he was announced as the DPP candidate for Taiwan’s 16th-term presidential election, and was successfully elected in January 2024.