Xi: Advance Healthy China Initiative

President Xi Jinping stressed on Friday that the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period will be crucial for building a Healthy China by 2035, urging coordinated planning and faster implementation to achieve decisive progress toward the goal.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while taking part in a joint group meeting in Beijing with national political advisers during the fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

The meeting was attended by political advisers from the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party, the Jiusan Society and the sectors of medicine and health, and welfare and social security.

He spoke after hearing opinions and suggestions from six political advisers, who contributed insights on issues such as implementing a health-first development strategy, improving grassroots healthcare services and promoting innovative drug development.

Xi pointed out that China remains a developing country with a large population and significant disparities between urban and rural areas and among different regions.

In advancing the Healthy China Initiative, the country must proceed based on its national conditions and follow a path of health development with Chinese characteristics, Xi said, highlighting the need to always stay clear-eyed and maintain strategic resolve over fundamental issues.

A communique adopted at the fifth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in 2015 first highlighted the need to advance the Healthy China Initiative.

According to the draft outline of China's 15th Five-Year Plan, which has been submitted for review to the ongoing fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress, the nation aims to raise average life expectancy to 80 years by 2030.

In his remarks, Xi pointed out that advancing the Healthy China Initiative is a systematic undertaking, and priority must be given to key areas — particularly those that benefit broad segments of the population and have far-reaching impact — in the face of the people's growing and increasingly diverse demands for healthcare services.

Efforts should focus on improving the public health system, building a high-quality and efficient medical service system, and promoting healthy and civilized lifestyles, he said.

The president stressed the necessity to strengthen policy and institutional systems for health promotion, saying that reforms should be deepened to improve the governance mechanisms for medical services, health insurance and the pharmaceutical sector.

Xi said the commercialization and application of sci-tech and innovation outcomes must be advanced, and stronger efforts must be made in digital and intelligent development in public health.

Greater efforts should be devoted to cultivating professional talent, promoting sound medical ethics and professional conduct, and fostering a clean and upright environment across the healthcare industry, he added.

During the meeting, Xi also extended festive greetings and best wishes to the country's women of all ethnic groups and from all walks of life ahead of International Women's Day, which falls on Sunday.

Contact the writers at xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn