Healthcare reform has macroeconomic implications

The nation's healthcare sector has evolved erratically since 1949, when the People's Republic of China was founded.

Rural reform was an early priority and the first Five-Year Plan (1953-57) called for more hospital beds, doctors and antibiotics. It also recognized the necessity of a dual-track approach of Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine.

Later, the use of "barefoot doctors" was cultivated, receiving widespread international recognition.