context: As public health emerges as a clear strategic priority for Beijing in the coming years, a range of measures have been set to better safeguard the well-being of citizens in the long term.
During the 2024 Two Sessions, the Government Work Report’s key instructions for the health sector include the following
- improve medical and health service capabilities
- continue infectious disease prevention and control efforts
- increase the per capita financial subsidy standard for resident medical insurance by C¥30
- promote the coordinated development and governance of medical insurance, healthcare and medicine, especially on a provincial level
- enhance the national centralised procurement system for drugs, strengthen the normalised supervision of medical insurance fund use and improve the off-site billing system
- deepen the reform of public hospitals, promote mutual recognition of testing results and promote graded diagnosis and treatment
- focus on bringing high-quality medical resources to the grassroots, strengthen the coordination and linkage of county-level and rural medical services, as well as expand the types of drugs used for chronic and common diseases in grassroots medical and health institutions
- accelerate the filling of gaps in pediatric, geriatric, mental health and other medical services
- promote the inheritance and innovation of traditional Chinese medicine and strengthen the construction of advantageous specialties in traditional Chinese medicine
Aside from the aforementioned aspects, 2024's government work report also reflects Beijing's growing emphasis on the development of biopharmaceutical and life science industries, which have become strategically important on a global level. The proposals include calls to accelerate the development of cutting-edge innovative drugs and actively create new growth engines such as biological manufacturing.
This is the first year the term ‘innovative drugs’ was included in the Government Work Report, which industry insiders believe may drive more local pharmaceutical companies to increase investment and boost innovation, helping the PRC pharma industry make the leap from second-tier to first-tier worldwide.