context: The State Council has issued the 15th 5-year plan for national health, setting out 24 priority tasks for building a Healthy China through 2030. The plan marks a policy shift from disease-centred to health-centred care. The PRC's average life expectancy reached 79.25 years in 2025, with major health indicators already in the upper-middle-income country range.
The plan targets average life expectancy of 80 years by 2030, with major health indicators entering the high-income country range and clinical medicine reaching world-advanced standards. Infant mortality is to fall below 3.5 per thousand, maternal mortality below 12 per 100,000 and the smoking rate among those aged 15 and above to 20 percent.
The plan's release reflects a shift in the PRC's disease profile, from infectious diseases toward chronic non-communicable diseases, argued Chen Jian 陈剑 Healthy China Forum executive director. Stroke, ischaemic heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have become the top three causes of premature death, with chronic diseases now accounting for over 80 percent of total deaths.
Cancer burdens are rising, with lung cancer consistently leading malignant tumour incidence and mortality, while colorectal and breast cancers linked to high-fat, high-protein diets are trending upward. Musculoskeletal disorders, mental health conditions and sensory organ diseases have become the three leading causes of disability, driven by surging rates of hypertension, smoking, high-salt diets and obesity, Chen said. This 'chronic disease surge' makes strategic transition from treatment-centred to prevention, screening and lifestyle management-centred healthcare urgently necessary, he argued.
The plan elevates the health industry to the status of a strategic engine of the national economy for the first time, a recognition consistent with global trends, Chen pointed out. The global health industry surpassed US$9 tn in scale over 2021–25, growing at 6–8 percent annually, far exceeding global GDP growth of around 2.5–3 percent over the same period. The PRC's health industry grew at 8–10 percent annually over the same period, roughly 1.5 to two times the pace of GDP growth, Chen noted. Under the dual pressures of accelerating population ageing and consumption upgrading, the health industry is not only a public welfare undertaking but a significant driver of economic growth and structural transformation, he said.
On hospital resource allocation, the plan controls tertiary hospital scale while directing incremental bed capacity toward underserved regions and specialist shortfall areas including chronic disease, mental health and rehabilitation. Public hospitals with debt-to-asset ratios above 80 percent, or with bed occupancy below 75 percent and average inpatient stays above nine days, may not in principle add beds. Nationally, public hospital beds per thousand population are to rise from 5.4 in 2025 to 5.6 in 2030.
On data and technology, the plan calls for building a cross-provincial health examination results sharing platform, real-time medical imaging retrieval and mutual recognition of test results and deploying AI across the full pharmaceutical and medical device industry chain.
To translate the plan into reality, fiscal, tax and financial policy must increase support for the health industry, data barriers between medical institutions and disease control authorities must be broken down, and multi-tier insurance payment mechanisms must be innovated to provide commercially viable pathways for health management products and services, argued Chen.