On the path of Chinese modernization, the country has achieved steady progress in building a "Healthy China" and it is now set to accelerate its efforts in the years ahead.

At a key Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee meeting held in Beijing last month, the Party leadership adopted recommendations for formulating the country's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for economic and social development, which required enhancing both life expectancy and the overall health of the people.

Lei Haichao, head of the National Health Commission, said in a recent interview with Xinhua that governments across the country should make public health a priority in their work plans for the coming period, take health indicators as crucial aspects in their performance assessment, and help foster healthy lifestyles, production methods, and governance models.

The recommendations mandated deepening the reform of public hospitals in staffing allocation, service pricing, salary system, and supervision, to see that they truly serve the public interest. The document also urged strengthening support for the operation of county- and grassroots-level medical institutions.

China's public hospital reform has made notable progress, yet issues remain, said Lei, emphasizing the necessity to make the government the primary stakeholder in running hospitals.

He highlighted efforts to establish a medical price adjustment mechanism with medical services as the dominant factor, improve the salary system, and strengthen supervision over medical service quality and safety, institutional operations, and the behavior of healthcare professionals, while cracking down on insurance fraud and corruption in the pharmaceutical sector.

China will also subsidize public medical institutions that face financial difficulties but with patient demands, Lei said.

In terms of high-quality population development, the recommendations proposed pilot subsidies for childcare services, and reducing the financial burdens incurred by childbirth, childcare, and education.

Lei said China will implement comprehensive measures to build a birth-friendly society, optimize supportive and incentive policies for childbirth, and steadily expand the scope of free education.

Efforts will be made to help young people develop positive attitudes toward marriage and childbirth, leverage the effects of policies such as childcare subsidies and personal income tax deductions, and develop an inclusive childcare service system, Lei noted.

Additionally, China will enhance capacities for prenatal care and birth defect prevention, aiming to reduce the number of induced abortions, he added.

In the coming years, population aging will continue to be pressing issue in China, leading to a growing demand for medical care for individuals with disabilities and cognitive impairments, as well as hospice care for patients in the terminal stages of illness.

"We will strengthen sci-tech innovation to address major health issues, expand the supply of rehabilitation nursing and hospice care services in both urban and rural areas, and promote the establishment of a long-term care insurance system," Lei said.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period, China has established a medical and health care service system of the largest scale in the world, deepened the reform of the medical and health system, and promoted high-quality population development.

By the end of 2024, the number of medical and health institutions across China exceeded one million, with nearly 16 million medical and health personnel. Residents can now reach the nearest medical and health service site within 15 minutes.

In 2024, China's average life expectancy reached 79 years, with an average annual increase of more than 0.2 years in the past five years. Key indicators such as maternal mortality ratio and infant mortality rate continued to improve. The average life expectancy is expected to increase to around 80 years by 2030.

Official figures show that Chinese residents' health literacy level has risen from 23.15 percent in 2020 to 31.87 percent in 2024. The premature mortality rate from major chronic diseases has dropped by 10.6 percent.

The incidence rates of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis B, and HIV/AIDS have continued to decline or remained at a low prevalence level, and the country has withstood the significant impact and challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The central government has provided financial support to 70 cities to facilitate pilot projects aimed at promoting the high-quality development and reform of public hospitals, further highlighting the public welfare nature of the medical and health care undertakings.

China has also successively introduced a series of policy measures to encourage childbirth, including extending maternity leave, enhancing prenatal and postnatal care services, implementing personal income tax deductions for child-rearing expenses, and gradually rolling out free preschool education.

China has established and implemented a childcare subsidy system and developed inclusive childcare services.