Background: Over the past six decades, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), through its Learning and Capacity Building Branch (LCB), has played a pivotal role in strengthening global capacity in cancer epidemiology and prevention research. As the global cancer burden continues to rise, particularly in large and rapidly transitioning populations, it has become increasingly evident that centralized training alone cannot fully address the growing and heterogeneous demand for high-quality prevention-oriented research capacity. Regionally anchored training initiatives have therefore emerged as essential complement, enabling adaptation to local research environments while maintaining IARC's scientific rigor. China's accession to IARC in 2021 created a timely opportunity to pilot such an approach in the Asin-Pacific region, where the need for cancer prevention training has expanded markedly.

Objectives: To describe the design and implementation of the IARC-NCC China Joint Course conducted in 2024 and 2025, evaluate its training outcomes, and examine its relevance as a regional model translating IARC’s long-standing experience in capacity building into locally grounded practice.

Methods: The Joint Course was jointly developed by the IARC LCB and the National Cancer Center of China (NCC China), with academic leadership from the Department of Cancer Prevention and Control, NCC China. The program was aligned with the pedagogical framework of the IARC Summer School in Chancer Epidemiology and adopted a blended learning format. This included a four-week self-paced online component delivered through IARC learning platforms in coordination with the WHO Academy, followed by a one-week in-person session hosted by the IARC-NCC China Learning Center in Beijing. The curriculum covered core domains of cancer epidemiology and prevention research, including study design, exposure assessment, data analysis and interpretation, research ethics, scientific writing, and selected state-of-the-art topics. Teaching was organized around small, multidisciplinary groups supported by trained teaching associates. Participants were early- and mid-career professionals from research institutes, hospitals, centers for disease control, and universities, representing diverse disciplinary backgrounds and geographic regions.

Results: Two consecutive editions of the Joint Course were successfully delivered in 2024 and 2025. Across both cohorts, all enrolled participants completed the full program and received joint IARC-NCC China certification. Post-course evaluations achieved full coverage in 2024 (36/36, 100%) and near-complete coverage in 2025 (39/42, 92.9%). More than 85% of respondents reported good-to-excellent improvement across core competencies, including understanding epidemiological study designs, selecting appropriate analytical approaches, interpreting epidemiological findings, and formulating cancer prevention research questions. The group-based research proposal component fostered multidisciplinary exchange and strengthened the linkage between methodological training and real-world research contexts.

Conclusions: The IARC-NCC China Joint Course provides a practical example of how IARC's six-decade of global capacity-building experience can be institutionalized through regionally grounded training initiatives. By embedding IARC standards within a national cancer center linked to public health decision-making, the program supports sustainable workforce development, strengths the evidence base for cancer prevention policies, and promotes greater regional equity in research capacity. This model may be informative for other middle-income countries and regions seeking to align cancer prevention research training with national health systems and global cancer control strategies.