Accelerate the construction of a Healthy China
习近平
Building a Healthy China by 2035 was a strategic decision made by the CPC Central Committee. The 15th Five-Year Plan period is crucial for achieving this goal; we must coordinate planning and accelerate progress to achieve decisive results.
On the afternoon of 2026, 3, President and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping, visited members of the Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party, the Jiusan Society, and representatives from the medical and health and social welfare/social security sectors attending the fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He also participated in a joint group meeting to listen to their opinions and suggestions. Xinhua News Agency photographer Xie Huanchi.
第一，坚持从我国国情出发推动卫生与健康事业发展。As a socialist country with a massive population and significant urban-rural disparities, China is a developing nation that must uphold Party leadership over health and medical services. We are committed to putting people first and valuing life above all, prioritizing health in national development, maintaining the public welfare nature of basic healthcare, and forging a path of Chinese-style health and medical advancement. At the National Health and Wellness Conference held in 2016, the CPC Central Committee clearly articulated the guiding principles for health and medical work in the new era: focusing on grassroots-level care, driving progress through reform and innovation, emphasizing prevention, integrating traditional Chinese medicine with Western medicine, embedding health considerations into all policies, and fostering shared construction and benefits among the people. The historic achievements made in China's health and medical sector since the advent of the new era fully demonstrate that these directives align with our national conditions and are entirely correct. In the current and future period, while we must adapt specific policies and measures to evolving circumstances, we cannot waver from our commitment to the Chinese-style path of health and medical development or from implementing the new-era guiding principles. On these fundamental issues, we must remain clear-headed and maintain strategic resolve.
Second, prioritize key initiatives to advance the Healthy China initiative.Building a Healthy China is a comprehensive, systemic effort. To meet the growing and diverse health needs of the people, we must focus on high-impact initiatives that benefit the broadest population and drive progress across the entire health sector. By concentrating resources and efforts, we can achieve continuous new results. For example, strengthening the public health system requires deepening social co-governance, integrating medical care with disease prevention, and enhancing capabilities in infectious disease control, surveillance and early warning, medical treatment, emergency response, supply assurance, and regulatory oversight. We must prioritize mental health and psychiatric services by strengthening prevention and guidance, early detection, and comprehensive intervention. Another key area is meeting public expectations for a high-quality, efficient medical service system. This includes optimizing system layout, implementing a foundation-strengthening initiative for healthcare, promoting tiered diagnosis and treatment, and ensuring operational support for county-level and primary care institutions. We should advance integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine, address gaps in services for priority populations and under-resolved specialties, improve chronic disease prevention and control, and expand access to rehabilitation, nursing, and hospice care. Additionally, promoting healthy and civilized lifestyles requires raising national health literacy, advancing nationwide fitness campaigns and patriotic health movements, and guiding balanced diets and healthy weight management through concrete measures and actionable tools. When these critical tasks are effectively implemented, the construction of a Healthy China will advance steadily and tangibly.
From 2024 to 20, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the State, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping conducted an inspection in Ningxia. This photo, taken on the afternoon of 19, shows Xi engaging warmly with medical staff at the community health station within the Party-Mass Service Center in Changcheng Garden Community, Jinfeng District, Yinchuan. (Xinhua News Agency photographer Xie Huanchi)
Third, provide strong support for the Healthy China initiative.In this regard, we must strengthen the Party committee's unified leadership and foster a collaborative framework where both Party and government departments work together. We will improve the health promotion policy system and integrate health principles throughout the entire process of public policy formulation and implementation. We will deepen reforms in public hospitals and medical insurance payment methods, refine drug pricing mechanisms, optimize centralized procurement policies for drugs and medical consumables, enhance the efficiency of medical insurance fund usage, and establish a coordinated development and governance mechanism for healthcare, medical insurance, and pharmaceutical sectors. We will promote the application of technological innovation achievements in the health sector and advance digital and intelligent construction for universal health. Additionally, we will strengthen Party building within the health industry, mobilize the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of medical professionals, intensify talent cultivation efforts, uphold high ethical standards in medicine, and create a clean and upright professional environment.
Building a Healthy China requires the collective effort of society as a whole. The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) should leverage its role as a specialized consultative body to conduct in-depth research on relevant theoretical and practical issues, offering pragmatic and actionable policy recommendations. Members of the China Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party and the Jiusan Society, along with experts from the medical, health, social welfare, and social security sectors, should utilize their professional expertise to contribute wisdom and strength to the construction of a Healthy China.
*This is a major excerpt from President Xi Jinping's speech delivered on 2026 3, 6, while participating in the joint meeting of members from the China National Democratic Construction Association, Jiusan Society, medical and health sector, and social welfare and social security sector at the fourth session of the 14th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
