Healthy China Strategy

It is a national strategy aimed at comprehensively improving the health of the entire population. It is a demand-driven national level health development strategy formed in the practice of deepening the reform in respect to medical and health service sector enterprises based on the accurate judgment of the general trend of health reform in the world and China. The establishment of the “Healthy China Strategy” is an important embodiment of Xi Jinping's “people-centered” development philosophy in practice. The concept of “Healthy China” is not new. At the annual meeting of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology in 2007, Chen Zhu, the then Minister of Health, announced the three-step strategy of “health guarantees well-off society, while well-off society is based on health”. In 2008, the Ministry of Health launched a research on the “Healthy China 2020” strategy, systematically and intensively studied major issues that are strategic, global, and forward-looking to promote health reform and improve people's health, achieved a number of research results with theoretical innovation and practical value, and released the “Research Report on the Healthy China 2020 Strategy”, expounding the opportunities and challenges faced by the development of China's health, clarifying the guiding ideology and goals of development, and proposing strategic priorities, action plans and policy measures for development, etc.

In October 2015, the 5th Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee clearly proposed to promote the building of a healthy China and made institutional arrangements for better protection of people’s health for the present and future. On October 25, 2016, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued and implemented the “Outline of the Plan for Health China 2030”, which was the first medium- and long-term strategic plan for the health field proposed by China at the national level, and the action plan to promote the building of a healthy China in the next 15 years. Xi Jinping delivered an important speech on the theme of Healthy China at the National Health and Wellness Conference held on August 26, 2016. On October 18, 2017, Xi Jinping clearly pointed out in the Report of the 19th CPC National Congress that, to implement the “Healthy China Strategy”, we must improve the national health policy and provide the people with full-cycle health services in an all-round manner.

“Healthy China Strategy” must adhere to the people-centered development concept, firmly establishes and implement the concept of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, adhere to the correct health and wellness work policy, and adhere to the principles of health priority, reform innovation, scientific development and fairness. “Co-building and sharing, universal health” is the strategic theme of building a healthy China, among which co-building and sharing is the basic path to building a healthy China, and universal health is the fundamental purpose of building a healthy China. The main goal of the “Healthy China Strategy” is: by 2020, to establish a basic medical and health system with Chinese characteristics covering urban and rural residents, continue to improve the level of health literacy, establish a sound and efficient health service system, enable universal access to basic medical and health services and basic sports and fitness services, and form a health industry system with rich connotation and reasonable structure, ranking at the forefront of middle and high income countries in terms of key health indicators. By 2030, to improve the system for promoting universal health, promote the coordinated development of the health field, popularize the healthy lifestyle, continue to improve the quality of health services and the level of health protection, promote the prosperity of the health industry, and basically achieve health equity, ranking at the forefront of high-income countries in terms of key health indicators. By 2050, to build a healthy country compatible with a modern socialist country.

To implement the “Healthy China Strategy”, we must deepen the reform of the medical and health sectors, comprehensively establish a basic medical and health system with Chinese characteristics, a medical security system and a high-quality and efficient medical and health service system, and improve the modern hospital management system. Strengthen the construction of the primary health care service system and general practitioner teams. Completely abolish the practice of covering hospital expenses with medicine revenue and improve the supply system of medicines. Persist in prevention first, develop patriotic health campaigns in depth, advocate healthy and civilized lifestyles, and prevent and control major diseases. Implement food safety strategy to let people eat with confidence. Attach equal importance to traditional Chinese and western medicine, inherit and develop traditional Chinese medicine. Support non-public medical institutions and develop health industry. Promote the linkage between maternity policies and related economic and social policies, and strengthen studies on population development strategies. Actively respond to the aging population, build a policy system and social environment for pension, showing filial piety to the elders, and respecting for the elderly, promote the combination of medical treatment and endowment, and accelerate the development of the aging cause and industry. Health is an inevitable requirement for promoting people's all-round development and an important symbol of national prosperity and people's happiness.

The great significance of implementing the “Healthy China Strategy” is mainly manifested in the following four aspects: (1) No comprehensive well-being can be achieved without universal health. Implementing the “Healthy China Strategy” is an inevitable requirement for achieving the grand “Two Centenary Goals”; (2) Having health nationals means having a stronger overall national strength and sustainable development capabilities. Implementing the “Healthy China Strategy” is an inevitable requirement for maintaining national health; (3) Health and family planning and other livelihood matters are important elements of coordinated promotion of the “four comprehensives”, and deepening medical reform is a key measure to ensure that “the sick having access to medical care”. Therefore, Implementing the “Healthy China Strategy” is an inevitable requirement to implement the “four comprehensive” strategic layout and deepen the medical reform; (4) China's economic development has entered a new normal, and medical and health development cannot just rely on the high investment from the country, nor follow the simple development model of pursuing scale expansion, but must pay more attention to improving efficiency through system and structural adjustment. Implementing the “Healthy China Strategy” is an inevitable requirement for stabilizing growth, promoting reform, pushing forward restructuring, and benefiting people's livelihood.