BEIJING, March 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Earlier this year, The New York Times published an article titled “In China, A.I. Finds Pancreatic Cancer That Doctors May Miss,” detailing the medical journey of a retired bricklayer from Ningbo, East China’s Zhejiang Province. Leveraging advanced technology, the hospital detected the patient’s tumor within three days at a screening cost of approximately $25. This ordinary patient’s experience offers a vivid snapshot of China’s systematic advancement toward building a Healthy China.
Reforming and developing healthcare systems remains a global challenge. While developed nations boast technologically advanced healthcare systems, they are widely mired in the “three-fold dilemma”: lengthy wait times, high costs and cumbersome procedures. In many Western countries, patients often face months-long waits for gastroscopy appointments and lengthy delays in scheduling surgery, while astronomical medical bills remain commonplace in the US. In some nations, healthcare legislation has languished in parliamentary gridlock for decades, remaining either unresolved or contentious.
China has not only established the world’s largest healthcare service system, disease prevention and control system, and medical insurance system, but has also achieved historic milestones, with average life expectancy reaching 79.25 years and basic medical insurance coverage consistently exceeding 95 percent. While Western healthcare systems oscillate between “marketization” and “welfare-oriented” approaches, how has China managed to forge its own path to healthy development? The logic behind this achievement is well worth reflecting on.
In 2025, the top international medical journal The Lancet published an article titled “The Sanming model: reforming China’s health system.” Under the leadership of the CPC, the small city of Sanming, East China’s Fujian Province, successfully controlled healthcare costs without compromising service quality. This was achieved by enhancing transparency in the healthcare system, restructuring the pharmaceutical supply chain and reforming the medical insurance allocation mechanism. As a result, the medical insurance fund shifted from deficit to surplus. Today, the Sanming healthcare reform has evolved from a local pilot into a nationwide model rolled out across prefecture-level cities. It also offers a vivid example of the “Chinese solution” for global healthcare reform.
Building a Healthy China is a systematic endeavor. From elevating national fitness to a state strategy to including “strictly implementing the food safety responsibility system” in the “No.1 central document,” China is weaving a comprehensive safety net for people’s health and well-being through a holistic, lifecycle approach. This ensures the benefits of a Healthy China reach every citizen. Behind this lies China’s unique strength in “pooling resources to accomplish major undertakings.” This institutional advantage has enabled China to break through departmental barriers and achieve coordinated progress in healthcare services, medical insurance and pharmaceuticals, a systemic divide that many countries struggle to overcome.
In 2016, the Outline of the Healthy China 2030 Plan put people’s health at the center and integrated health considerations into all policies. A decade later, China now boasts over 1.1 million healthcare institutions, with basic medical services covering 1.4 billion residents. More than 90 percent of the population can reach the nearest medical facility within 15 minutes. Moreover, “group-based” medical talent assistance programs for Xizang and Xinjiang autonomous regions, along with tertiary hospitals providing targeted support to county-level hospitals, have enabled high-quality medical resources to reach every corner of the country.
The Healthy China initiative is not only inclusive but also forward-looking and pioneering. In recent years, foreign media have devoted increasing attention to China’s innovations and breakthroughs in the medical field, a vivid reflection of the country’s transition from a follower to a co-runner and even a frontrunner in healthcare development. At the technical level, China has joined the global forefront in oncology, cardiovascular medicine and neurosurgery. Traditional Chinese medicine practices like acupuncture and tuina massage attract international patients seeking alternative therapies. At the institutional level, a comprehensive healthcare supply chain, domestically produced high-end medical equipment and state-led drug procurement policies collectively form the safety net of China’s healthcare system.
“People’s health is the primary indicator of modernization,” and “Health is the 1, and everything else is a 0.” In building a Healthy China, putting people first is the fundamental value, and institutional strengths are the core pillar. As a major developing country with over 1.4 billion people and significant urban-rural and regional gaps, only by securing the “1” – achieving universal health coverage – can we make all the “0”s that follow truly meaningful.
People’s wellbeing is of the utmost importance in Chinese modernization. Looking back from the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the journey of building a Healthy China serves as a microcosm of this modernization. While healthcare reforms in some countries remain mired in partisan disputes and vested interests, China has forged a path of intensive development through systematic, holistic and coordinated reform practices. This approach emphasizes prevention as the primary focus, integrates prevention and treatment, and promotes nationwide participation. This path not only builds upon the legacy of the “barefoot doctors” but also embraces modern technology and institutional innovation. It benefits the Chinese people while contributing Chinese wisdom to improving global health governance.
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SOURCE Global Times
