Primary healthcare to get shot in arm

China plans to accelerate the establishment of a tiered healthcare delivery system, focusing on strengthening primary-level medical capacity to manage common and chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, authorities said.

The move was outlined in a document released last week by the General Office of the State Council, aimed at meeting public demand for convenient, high-quality medical services closer to home.

According to the document, efforts will be made to ensure every neighborhood is equipped with a community health center to "eliminate any existing gaps" in primary-level healthcare service coverage.

It emphasizes that secondary hospitals — the middle tier in the nation's three-level hospital system — will strengthen their capacity to treat common diseases while expanding services in rehabilitation, nursing, palliative care and integrated medical as well as elderly care.

Tertiary hospitals are charged with focusing on critical and complex diseases and enhancing services for referred patients, as well as those requiring multidisciplinary consultations and hospitalization.

At the same time, they will gradually reduce routine outpatient services — such as follow-up visits for common diseases and stable chronic conditions with clear diagnoses — to achieve "efficient utilization of high-quality medical resources", the document said.

The document also calls for upgrading medical consortia that link higher-level hospitals with smaller institutions by establishing resource-sharing centers for medical imaging, examinations, sterilization, lab testing and drug supply services.

To encourage patients to seek initial diagnoses at the primary level, the document requires higher-level hospitals to set up outpatient clinics for common and chronic diseases — including hypertension, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — at primary-level institutions within their medical consortia.

"The provision of specialist expert clinics should also be extended to the primary level. For eligible patients with chronic diseases, primary-level healthcare institutions are allowed to issue long-term prescriptions covering up to 12 weeks of medication in a single visit," it said.

It added that more medical professionals will be regularly dispatched to grassroots facilities, and additional mobile medical teams will be deployed to underserved regions.

Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Zheng Zhe, deputy director of the National Health Commission, said China now has over 1.1 million healthcare institutions, and more than 90 percent of residents can reach the nearest medical service provider within 15 minutes.

In 2025, the number of patient visits to primary-level healthcare institutions nationwide reached 5.56 billion, accounting for 52.6 percent of total visits.

"Moreover, the number of two-way referral visits between major and small hospitals has continued to grow, rising by more than 50 percent from 2020 to 2025, reflecting enhanced convenience for the public," he said.

Jiao Yahui, head of the commission's primary health department, said primary healthcare institutions now provide more than 1 billion services annually to key groups such as the elderly, children and patients with chronic diseases.

"Data shows that in 2025, primary healthcare institutions across the country set up more than 370,000 home hospital beds, and issued 190 million long-term prescriptions for chronic disease patients," she said.

In line with the new document, Jiao said more efforts will be made to strengthen care for chronic illnesses at the primary level, while also enhancing capabilities in pediatrics, rehabilitation, psychology, and ear, nose and throat services.

"We will ensure that rural and community clinics have regular access to medical staff from higher-level hospitals, and that grassroots medical workers are arranged to train at higher-level hospitals," she said, adding that the use of artificial intelligence-assisted diagnostic technologies will be explored at the grassroots level.