China health and population development planning

As part of the upcoming “15th Five-Year Plan,” China is implementing broad strategies to upgrade its health industry and manage population development.

Initial efforts focus on transitioning the health sector from disease treatment toward prevention, rehabilitation, and active health management. This includes strengthening the medical services, pharmaceutical, and medical device industries to serve an aging population. Within this shift, there is a growing emphasis on functional foods and securing domestic supply chains for specific health-related commodities.

Subsequent policy developments emphasize high-quality population growth through enhanced fertility support and maternal-child health services. To boost birth rates, the National Health Commission is working to improve the accessibility and affordability of childcare. Lei Haichao, head of the commission, stated the government aims to integrate services between kindergartens and nursery centers, supporting the establishment of facilities near homes and workplaces.

To strengthen pediatric care, the government plans to increase the number of community-level medical institutions capable of offering pediatric services by 1,000 by the end of 2026. This initiative seeks to ensure that over 95 percent of township-level clinics and community health centers can provide relevant services, supported by the deployment of over 3,000 pediatricians from higher-level hospitals to grassroots institutions.

Under the 15th Five-Year Plan framework, China has set specific mortality rate targets for 2030, including reducing the maternal mortality rate to below 12 per 100,000 live births and the infant mortality rate to below 3.5 per 1,000 live births. Additional measures include providing free HPV vaccinations for eligible girls and expanding childcare center enrollment for children under three by 6 percentage points by 2030. Recent updates confirm these efforts will be supported by a nationwide childcare subsidy program to further reduce the financial burden on families.