A 15-year plan focused on the health of the entire population has been officially issued by the State Council. On July 7, 2026, the State Council issued Notice Guo Fa [2026] No. 23, distributing the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Health to the people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, as well as all ministries and commissions of the State Council and all institutions directly under the State Council, demanding earnest implementation.
The plan sets 2030 as a key milestone. By that year, average life expectancy will reach 80 years, and the smoking rate among people aged 15 and above will drop to 20%. At the grassroots level, over 95% of township health centers and community health service centers will meet service capability standards, and the numbers of rehabilitation physicians and rehabilitation therapists per 10,000 population will reach 0.7 and 1.6 respectively. These quantitative targets, along with qualitative requirements such as decisive progress in the Healthy China initiative and effective control of the rising trend in major chronic diseases, are written into the document.
Centering on a health-focused development approach, the plan is organized across five dimensions: services, safety, systems, drivers, and governance.
For health services, the document mandates integrating health education into the national education system and implementing actions on reasonable diet, weight management, and national fitness. Across the entire life cycle, the plan arranges for birth support, maternal and child care, occupational health protection, elderly health promotion, and support for people with disabilities and low-income groups. To improve medical service quality, it emphasizes upgrading the quality control system, promoting high-quality nursing, establishing specialized outpatient clinics, and advancing tiered diagnosis and treatment as well as family doctor contracting.
The safety barrier covers infectious disease prevention, emergency care, food and drug safety, and biosecurity. The plan clarifies that joint prevention and control mechanisms will be improved, integrated emergency care will be implemented, food safety risk monitoring will be strengthened, and the biosecurity risk monitoring and early warning system will be enhanced. Meanwhile, AED deployment and public first-aid training will also be enhanced.
The service system is built as an "integrated" network. The grassroots network will be further consolidated to form a 15-minute basic medical and health service circle. Secondary hospitals will take on more shortage services such as rehabilitation, nursing, mental health, and pediatrics. Institutions tasked with roles like National Medical Centers will concentrate on critical, acute, and difficult diseases. The plan also proposes a project to strengthen medical and health foundations, promote the sinking of high-quality resources, and expand rehabilitation, nursing, and palliative care supply.
New drivers focus on talent, science and technology, digital intelligence, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The document deploys a high-level medical talent program, a public health talent support project, and the Qihuang Project. In science and technology innovation, it emphasizes basic research, major special projects, and commercialization of achievements, mentioning frontier areas like brain-computer interfaces. Digital intelligence requires building a cross-provincial sharing platform, enabling real-time access to electronic health records and AI applications. TCM inheritance and innovation will intensify protection and implement the "New Era Shennong Tasting Hundreds of Herbs" initiative. On the industrial front, the plan supports innovative drugs and medical devices across the entire chain, guides private hospitals toward specialization and branding, and proposes a special action to promote health consumption.
The governance section focuses on synergy among medical services, medical insurance, and pharmaceuticals. Public hospital reform deepens, with a salary system that reflects job differences and favors shortage specialties. Medical insurance payment reform will establish a unified national catalog of medical services, and the proportion of out-of-pocket health expenditure in total health expenditure will remain on a steady decline. The plan also calls for strengthening comprehensive supervision, advancing intelligent embedded supervision, and reinforcing medical humanistic care and legal safeguards.
Internationally, the document mentions deepening Belt and Road health cooperation, co-building China-Africa joint medical centers, and implementing small-scale projects like "Brightness Action." The construction of TCM overseas centers will also be promoted with high quality.
Finally, the plan requires all regions and departments to advance implementation according to local conditions in conjunction with the "Healthy China 2030" Planning Outline. The National Health Commission will strengthen overall coordination, and major matters should be promptly reported to the CPC Central Committee and the State Council.