China's healthcare resources maintain growth trajectory

China's healthcare resources continued to grow in 2024, with the total number of medical institutions increasing by nearly 22,800 year-on-year to surpass 1.09 million by the end of the year, according to the latest data released by the National Health Commission.

The commission published the 2024 statistical bulletin on the development of healthcare in China on Tuesday. By the end of 2024, the number of hospitals nationwide had risen by 355 year-on-year to reach 38,700.

Healthcare personnel also expanded, climbing 4.3 percent year-on-year to 13 million by the end of 2024, with about 9.4 million working in hospitals. Both total patient visits and hospital admissions showed an upward trend during the year.

Notably, visits to primary- and secondary-level hospitals — the lower two tiers of China's three-tier hospital system — accounted for 66.6 percent of all medical visits. The number of visits to township or village health centers and community healthcare clinics increased by 230 million year-on-year, reaching nearly 4 billion in total.

Preliminary estimates indicate that total national health expenditure in 2024 amounted to 9.09 trillion yuan ($1.27 trillion), representing 6.7 percent of the GDP. The average life expectancy in China reached 79 years in 2024, while maternal mortality fell to 14.3 per 100,000 and infant mortality dropped to 4 per 1,000 live births.

The availability of childcare for children under 3 years old improved, with 4.08 nursery care slots per 1,000 population. The total number of nursery care facilities grew by 13.8 percent year-on-year to 114,000, and available slots rose by 20.2 percent to 5.7 million. Enrollment in these facilities reached more than 2.6 million infants and young children.

The nursery care workforce expanded to about 1.3 million, up 12.5 percent year-on-year.