Published by ChinaMNC · Jiangdu

China's 15th Five-Year Plan Health Priorities: What Foreign Founders Should Know

A policy briefing for foreign founders on China's national health and wellness conference, the 'Healthy China' goals for the 15th Five-Year Plan period, and what the priorities signal for healthcare, medtech, and related businesses operating in China.

China Signals Health Sector Priorities for the 15th Five-Year Plan Period

At a national conference on health and wellness held in Beijing on October 12–13, China's leadership set out the direction for the country's health sector during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. For foreign founders building or registering a company in China — particularly in healthcare services, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, traditional medicine, nutrition, fitness, or health technology — the stated priorities offer a useful map of where policy attention is heading.

The conference was addressed by Xi Jinping, who described the 15th Five-Year Plan period as pivotal to reaching the goal of building a 'Healthy China' by 2035. Premier Li Qiang delivered a summary speech, and senior officials Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi attended.

What the Leadership Emphasized

A health-first development strategy

Xi described health and wellness as having an overarching, foundational role and called for firmly implementing a strategy that gives health priority in development. According to the readout, health protection is to be woven into all policies and reflected across government work: when plans are drafted, policies designed, projects assessed or construction undertaken, the impact on public health should be considered first.

The scale of China's existing health systems

The source states that since the 18th Party Congress, the leadership has placed protection of public health in a priority strategic position, established a health and wellness work policy for the new era, and made major decisions on building a Healthy China. It says China has built the world's largest systems for medical services, traditional medicine, disease prevention and control, and medical insurance, and that the sector has achieved historic accomplishments and all-round progress.

For founders, this framing is relevant context: it describes large, established delivery and insurance systems rather than a market being created from scratch.

Six capabilities the 'Healthy China' aims to have

Xi said the Healthy China to be built should be balanced, inclusive, high-quality and efficient, and should possess strong capabilities in:

• Health management
• Disease prevention and control
• Medical services
• Medical insurance support
• Pharmaceutical innovation
• Talent cultivation

The stated aim is to meet growing public health needs and to keep improving major health indicators steadily.

Prevention as the core strategy

Xi described prevention as the most economical and effective health strategy and called for close attention to foundational, source-level health work. The readout mentions encouraging society to adopt a correct view of health and to manage health effectively; guiding young people to form good study and lifestyle habits and develop in an all-round way; creating a good ecological and living environment; supporting fitness for all and healthy leisure; strengthening food safety supervision to protect 'safety at the tip of the tongue'; and improving the disease prevention and control system to hold the line against large-scale outbreaks.

These themes point to demand areas such as preventive health services, nutrition and food safety compliance, fitness and wellness offerings, and public health technology.

Raising the level of medical services

Xi called comprehensive improvement of medical services a key task, listing several directions:

• Strengthening the primary care base — implementing a project to reinforce the foundations of medical and health care, optimizing the functions and layout of institutions, and promoting tiered diagnosis and treatment so people can get care nearby.
• Chronic disease prevention and control — comprehensive management and a full-chain service covering prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and management.
• Traditional Chinese medicine — improving mechanisms for inheritance, innovation and development, and strengthening collaboration and integration between Chinese and Western medicine.
• Research and innovation — strengthening basic research and original innovation in health and wellness, promoting commercialization of scientific results, and expanding the health industry.
• Patient experience — optimizing the experience of seeking care and improving convenience and satisfaction.

Reform of medical, insurance and pharmaceutical systems

Xi said reform is a powerful driver of the sector and identified coordinated development and governance of medical services, medical insurance and pharmaceuticals as the main direction of healthcare system reform. The readout calls for:

• Fully implementing reform plans for medical and health public institutions, deepening public hospital reform with a public-interest orientation, and strengthening operating support for county, district and primary-level institutions.
• Building a multi-tiered medical insurance system, optimizing centralized procurement of drugs and consumables, medical insurance payment and fund-use policies, with the aim of safe fund operation, sound hospital operation and reasonable public burden.
• Improving drug supply and use management, the national essential medicines system, and supervision of drug quality and safety.

Talent and professional standards

The readout stresses building strong leadership teams at competent authorities and medical institutions, especially the top officials, and developing a medical workforce sufficient in number, reasonable in structure and strong in quality. It also calls for strengthening medical ethics and professional conduct and fostering social respect for doctors and health workers.

International cooperation

Xi said health for all is a shared aspiration of humanity and called for advancing a global community for health, jointly addressing major health challenges, deepening Belt and Road cooperation in health, strengthening and innovating foreign health assistance, and telling the 'Healthy China story' well to build international consensus.

What Premier Li Qiang Added

Li said Xi's speech answered fundamental, directional and overarching questions about health work and provides guidance for the new era. He listed five emphases: firmly following the health and wellness path with Chinese characteristics; establishing a clear health-first orientation and coordinating public health with economic and social development; preserving the public-interest nature of basic medical and health services; balancing basic provision with quality improvement to meet diverse needs; and deepening reform, innovation and opening-up cooperation to sustain momentum.

Li also pointed to specific tasks: addressing pain points in the sector and matters of urgent public concern, major disease prevention and control, building the tiered diagnosis and treatment system, improving patient experience, constructing a multi-tiered medical insurance system, leveraging the distinctive strengths of traditional Chinese medicine, health services for the elderly and children, and technology empowering medical and health development.

Practical Takeaways for Foreign Founders

• Policy direction matters for market entry. The priorities named — primary care, chronic disease management, traditional medicine integration, pharmaceutical innovation, medical insurance reform and health technology — indicate where government attention and system demand are concentrated.
• Compliance is embedded in the agenda. Food safety supervision and drug quality and safety oversight are explicitly part of the health strategy, so product registration and quality compliance should be planned early.
• Innovation is encouraged, with commercialization in view. The readout links basic research to the transformation of scientific results and growth of the health industry.
• International cooperation is welcomed in principle. Belt and Road health cooperation and global health engagement are named, which may be relevant to partnerships and cross-border projects.
• Watch implementing rules. The conference set direction; specific licensing, procurement and insurance rules will come through separate measures. Foreign founders should track those documents as they prepare a China entity.

This summary is based on information published by the relevant Chinese government website and is general information, not legal or tax advice.

Foreign founders who want to explore opportunities in China's health sector can contact ChinaMNC on WhatsApp / WeChat at +86 153 1898 8535 for help registering and operating a company in China.