Accelerating the Building of a Healthy China

Accelerating the Building of a Healthy China

XI JINPING

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has made the strategic decision to build a Healthy China by 2035, and the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) is a critical window for achieving this goal. We must take a coordinated approach to planning and press ahead with urgency to secure decisive progress toward this goal.

First, medical and health services should be developed in light of China’s realities

China is a developing socialist country with a vast population where considerable disparities still persist between urban and rural areas and among regions. These realities dictate that we follow a path of health development with distinctive Chinese characteristics, ensuring that our Party exercises leadership over health work, putting the people and their lives above all else, implementing a health-first strategy, and seeing that basic medical and health services are oriented toward the public interest.

At the National Health Conference in 2016, the CPC Central Committee put forward the guidelines for health development in the new era: giving priority to community-level services, using reform and innovation to drive progress, putting prevention first, placing equal emphasis on Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), incorporating health considerations into all policies, and ensuring the people contribute to and benefit from the development of health care.

The profound achievements in China’s health sector since the advent of the new era in 2012 are ample proof that these guidelines are well-suited to China’s national context and are entirely correct. Both now and in the period ahead, specific health work policies and measures will need to be adjusted and refined in response to changing circumstances. What we must not waver in, however, is our commitment to following the path of health development with Chinese characteristics or implementing the guidelines for health work in the new era. On these fundamental issues, we must remain clear-headed and maintain strategic resolve.

General Secretary Xi Jinping visits national political advisors from the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party, the Jiusan Society, the sector of medicine and health, and the sector of social welfare and social security, who are attending the fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Beijing, afternoon of March 6, 2026. Xi attended their joint group meeting to hear their comments and suggestions. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER XIE HUANCHI

Second, priority should be placed on key areas in advancing the Healthy China Initiative

Building a Healthy China is a systematic endeavor. As people’s medical and healthcare needs grow and diversify, we should focus on what will benefit the population broadly and have a far-reaching impact across the entire health sector. Both our efforts and resources should be concentrated on such tasks to deliver further progress.

For instance, improving the public health system requires deepening public participation, strengthening coordination and integration of medical care and disease prevention initiatives, and reinforcing epidemic prevention and control, monitoring and early warning, medical treatment, emergency response, supply provision, and oversight and management. We should also attach great importance to mental health and psychiatric care, strengthening preventive guidance, early detection, and comprehensive intervention.

General Secretary Xi Jinping talks with medical staff at the community health station of the CPC-led community service center, Changcheng Huayuan Community, Jinfeng District, Yinchuan City, afternoon of June 19, 2024. Xi visited Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on an inspection tour on June 19 and 20. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER XIE HUANCHI

Another example is meeting the people’s growing expectations for a high-quality and efficient medical service system. We should continue to improve the layout of the system, carry out capacity-building projects for community-level health care, promote tiered diagnosis and treatment, and strengthen operational support for medical and health institutions at the county, district, and community levels. We should also promote integrated application of TCM and Western medicine, shore up weak links in services for key populations and under-resourced specialties, strengthen comprehensive prevention and control of chronic diseases, and expand the provision of services such as rehabilitative care and palliative care.

A further example is the promotion of healthy and wholesome lifestyles. In this regard, we need to further raise public health literacy, advance public fitness initiatives and patriotic health campaigns, and guide people to maintain balanced diets and better manage their weight. Each of these tasks must be backed by concrete steps and levers. If these key tasks are carried out effectively, we will make solid progress in building a Healthy China.

Third, strong institutional support should be provided to build a Healthy China

This requires us to improve the working mechanism under which Party committees exercise overall leadership and Party and government departments work in tandem, refine the framework of policies and institutions for promoting people’s health, and make sure the principle of health promotion is embedded in the entire public policy process from formulation to implementation.

We should deepen the reform of public hospitals and medical insurance payment models, improve the drug pricing mechanism, refine centralized procurement policies for medicines and medical consumables, ensure efficient use of medical insurance funds, and enhance the mechanisms for promoting coordinated development and governance of medical services, medical insurance, and pharmaceuticals.

We should encourage the application of scientific and technological advances in the health sector and use digital and intelligent technologies to improve public health. Moreover, we should strengthen Party organizations in the health sector, keep healthcare workers motivated and spur their creativity, step up the training and development of healthcare professionals, promote sound ethics and professional conduct, and cultivate a culture of integrity across the medical profession.

Building a Healthy China calls for broad participation from across society. The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference should play its role as a specialized consultative body, conducting in-depth surveys and studies on relevant issues, both theoretical and practical, and putting forward targeted and effective suggestions. Members of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party and the Jiusan Society, along with people working in the medicine and health sector and the social welfare and social security sector, should fully leverage their professional expertise to contribute their wisdom and energy to building a Healthy China.

This is the main part of remarks made by General Secretary Xi Jinping on March 6, 2026, at a joint group meeting of members of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party, the Jiusan Society, the medicine and health sector, and the social welfare and social security sector at the fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

(Originally appeared in Qiushi Journal, Chinese edition, No. 15, 2026)