Taking the Path of Health Development with Chinese Characteristics Is an Inherent Requirement of Chinese-Path Modernization

On 6 March 2026, General Secretary Xi Jinping, when visiting members of the Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party, the Jiusan Society, the medical and health sector, and the social welfare and social security sector attending the Fourth Session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, stressed that "building a Healthy China by 2035 is a strategic decision made by the CPC Central Committee" and proposed that "we must proceed from China's national conditions and unswervingly take the path of health development with Chinese characteristics." The path of health development with Chinese characteristics is the concrete unfolding and concentrated embodiment of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the health field. Based on the national conditions of a huge population size and still relatively large urban-rural and regional gaps, building a Healthy China requires unswervingly taking the path of health development with Chinese characteristics.

2026年3月6日，习近平总书记在看望参加全国政协十四届四次会议的农工党、九三学社、医药卫生界、社会福利和社会保障界委员时，强调“到2035年建成健康中国是中共中央作出的一项战略决策”，提出“必须坚持从我国国情出发，坚定不移走中国特色卫生与健康发展道路”。中国特色卫生与健康发展道路，是中国特色社会主义道路在卫生健康领域的具体展开和集中体现。立足于人口规模巨大、城乡区域差距仍然较大的国情，建成健康中国必须坚定不移走中国特色卫生与健康发展道路。

The Scientific Connotation of the Path of Health Development with Chinese Characteristics

中国特色卫生与健康发展道路的科学内涵

The path of health development with Chinese characteristics refers to the path of health modernization that, under the leadership of the CPC, is based on the basic national conditions of the primary stage of socialism, takes Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as its fundamental guidance, takes the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics as its fundamental guarantee, takes the socialist culture with Chinese characteristics for the New Era as its spiritual support, adheres to the people-centered development philosophy, unswervingly implements the health work policy for the New Era, takes health as one of the core goals and basic elements of economic and social development, and is gradually established in line with China's national conditions and characteristics, possessing significant institutional advantages and distinct features of the times.

中国特色卫生与健康发展道路，是指在中国共产党领导下，立足社会主义初级阶段基本国情，以习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想为根本遵循，以中国特色社会主义制度为根本保障，以新时代中国特色社会主义文化为精神支撑，坚持以人民为中心的发展思想，坚定不移贯彻新时代卫生与健康工作方针，将健康作为经济社会发展的核心目标和基础要素之一，逐步建立起的符合我国国情特色、具有显著制度优势和鲜明时代特征的卫生与健康现代化路径。

Guided by the Party's innovative theory, adhering to the correct path of promoting universal health. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made profound expositions on a series of fundamental, directional, and overarching major issues in building a Healthy China, pointing out the direction and providing fundamental guidance for the development of China's health cause. The path of health development with Chinese characteristics is the practical form and institutional form of the Party's innovative theory. Under the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, China's health cause has achieved historic accomplishments, promoting the establishment of the world's largest medical service system covering both urban and rural areas, the largest traditional medicine system, and the largest disease prevention and control system, creating remarkable achievements recorded in history such as health poverty alleviation and COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control. [1]1 The 18th National Congress of the CPC was held in 2012, marking the beginning of the New Era under Xi Jinping's leadership.

以党的创新理论为指导，坚持促进全民健康的正确道路。党的十八大以来，习近平总书记就健康中国建设中一系列带有根本性、方向性、全局性的重大问题作出深刻论述，为我国卫生与健康事业发展指明前进方向、提供根本遵循。中国特色卫生与健康发展道路是党的创新理论的实践形态和制度形式。在习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想科学指引下，我国卫生与健康事业取得历史性成就，推动建成了遍及城乡的世界上规模最大的医疗服务体系、最大的传统医药体系、最大的疾病预防控制体系，创造了健康扶贫和新冠疫情防控等彪炳史册的人间伟绩。

Adhering to a people-centered approach, a practical path of "everything for the people, relying on the people for everything." The path of health development with Chinese characteristics was created and developed by the Party leading the people in long-term practice. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Since its founding, our Party has closely linked the protection of people's health with the cause of striving for national independence and people's liberation." Protecting and improving people's health is the original aspiration and founding mission of the Party, which has fundamentally shaped the background of the path of health development, which is different from that of the West. Closely connecting with, relying on, and mobilizing the masses is an inherent requirement of the Party's mass line, which essentially defines the practical path of health work. From "combining health work with mass movements" to "integrating health into all policies, with the people building and sharing," the people-centered nature has always been a distinct characteristic of China's health cause. Everything for the people is the value pursuit, and everything relying on the people is the source of strength; the two are unified in the practical logic of the path of health development with Chinese characteristics.

坚持以人民为中心，“一切为了人民、一切依靠人民”的实践道路。中国特色卫生与健康发展道路，是我们党带领人民在长期实践中创造和发展形成的。习近平总书记指出：“我们党从成立起就把保障人民健康同争取民族独立、人民解放的事业紧紧联系在一起。”保障和增进人民健康，是党的初心和使命所系，从根本上塑造了迥异于西方的卫生与健康发展道路底色。密切联系、依靠和发动群众，是党的群众路线的内在要求，从本质上规定了卫生与健康工作的实践路径。从“卫生工作与群众运动相结合”，到“将健康融入所有政策，人民共建共享”，人民性始终是我国卫生与健康事业的鲜明品格。一切为了人民是价值追求，一切依靠人民是力量源泉，二者统一于中国特色卫生与健康发展道路的实践逻辑中。

With the institutional system as the fundamental guarantee, a path of innovation through continuous deepening of reform. Institutions are the fundamental guarantee for the stable and long-term development of a cause. In the historical process of leading the people in developing the health cause, the Party has continuously deepened institutional innovation based on practical innovation, using reform methods to solve development problems. Health issues involve a wide range of social determinants. Building a Healthy China is not simply about preventing and treating diseases, but a systemic transformation involving changes in values, lifestyles, production methods, economic and social development methods, and governance methods. The "Healthy China 2030" Planning Outline proposes that by 2030, "the institutional system for promoting universal health will be more complete," and the "15th Five-Year Plan" outline proposes "improving the policy and institutional system for health promotion," placing higher demands on the completeness of institutional norms, the scientific nature of their operation, and the effectiveness of their implementation, which urgently requires continuous deepening of reform to achieve.

以制度体系为根本保障，持续深化改革的创新之路。制度是事业行稳致远的根本保障。我们党在带领人民发展卫生与健康事业的历史进程中，持续深化实践创新基础上的制度创新，用改革办法破解发展难题。健康问题涉及广泛的社会影响因素，健康中国建设不是简单的防病治病，而是一场涉及价值观念、生活方式、生产方式、经济社会发展方式和治理方式转型的系统性变革。《“健康中国2030”规划纲要》提出到2030年“促进全民健康的制度体系更加完善”，“十五五”规划纲要提出“健全健康促进政策制度体系”，对制度规范的完备性、运行的科学性、执行的有效性提出更高要求，迫切需要通过持续深化改革来实现。

With advanced culture as spiritual support, a new path promoting the progress of human health civilization. The path of health development with Chinese characteristics is deeply rooted in fine traditional Chinese culture, drawing on the worldview of "harmony between man and nature" and "the Dao follows nature," the ethical view of "the benevolent love others" and "saving lives and helping the living," and the health view of "unity of form and spirit" and "nurturing both body and mind," enabling the health cause to transcend the scope of mere biomedical science from the very beginning. It inherits the Red Medical Spirit and Bethune Spirit formed during the revolutionary war years, [2]2 The Red Medical Spirit refers to the medical ethos formed during the revolutionary period (1920s-1940s), emphasizing dedication to serving the revolutionary cause and the people. The Bethune Spirit refers to the selfless medical service of Norman Bethune, a Canadian communist doctor who served in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. and forges the lofty professional spirit of the New Era of "revering life, saving the dying and healing the wounded, being willing to contribute, and having boundless love," making the health cause an important carrier for cultivating core socialist values. This profound cultural gene endows this path with a spiritual temperament that emphasizes prevention, focuses on holism, esteems benevolent medicine, and is people-centered, providing Chinese wisdom for solving the predicament of modern medical technologism and bridging the rift between instrumental rationality and value rationality.

以先进文化为精神支撑，推动人类健康文明进步的全新道路。中国特色卫生与健康发展道路深植于中华优秀传统文化，汲取了“天人合一”“道法自然”的宇宙观、“仁者爱人”“济世活人”的伦理观、“形神合一”“身心共养”的健康观，使卫生与健康事业从一开始就超越了单纯生物医学的范畴。它继承了革命战争年代形成的红医精神、白求恩精神，熔铸了新时代“敬佑生命、救死扶伤、甘于奉献、大爱无疆”的崇高职业精神，使卫生与健康事业成为涵养社会主义核心价值观的重要载体。这种深厚的文化基因，赋予这条道路注重预防、强调整体、崇尚仁术、以人为核心的精神气质，为破解现代医学技术主义困境、弥合工具理性与价值理性裂痕提供了中国智慧。

The Characteristics of Chinese-Path Modernization Determine the Practical Mode of the Path of Health Development with Chinese Characteristics

中国式现代化的特征决定了中国特色卫生与健康发展道路的实践方式

The path of health development with Chinese characteristics is deeply rooted in the grand practice of Chinese-path modernization. The characteristics of Chinese-path modernization essentially determine the choice and practice of the path of health development with Chinese characteristics.

中国特色卫生与健康发展道路，深深植根于中国式现代化的宏大实践。中国式现代化的特征，从本质上决定了中国特色卫生与健康发展道路的选择与实践。

Modernization with a huge population size requires taking the protection of people's health as the fundamental task and taking a prevention-oriented, systematic, and continuous low-cost-high-efficiency path. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Having a healthy people means having stronger comprehensive national power and sustainable development capacity." To ensure that the entire population of over 1.4 billion enters modernization as a whole, the health problem of the whole people must first be solved. This is the foundation for high-quality population development and the prerequisite for transforming the advantage of population size into human capital and development advantages. Solving the health problems of such a huge population faces multiple complex challenges. On the one hand, China simultaneously faces health problems of both developed and developing countries, with multiple disease threats such as infectious diseases and chronic diseases coexisting, the incidence of chronic diseases continuing to rise and showing a trend of younger age and comorbidity, and a heavy burden of lifestyle-related diseases such as overweight and obesity. On the other hand, China is undergoing the largest and fastest demographic structural transformation in the world. The elderly population is large and growing rapidly, and the demand for comprehensive diagnosis and treatment of geriatric diseases, rehabilitation, nursing, and integrated medical and elderly care is growing rapidly. At the same time, stabilizing the size of the newborn population and improving the quality of the newborn population place higher demands on reproductive health, early pregnancy care, and birth defect prevention and control, and the health needs of children and adolescents in terms of weight, vision, bones, and oral health are also increasingly prominent. Facing the above challenges, it is necessary to focus on the comprehensive and full-life-cycle health needs of the people, optimize the prevention-treatment-rehabilitation-management full-chain integrated services, build a health-centered service, financing, information data, and evaluation system, and consolidate the health foundation for the modernization of a huge population.

人口规模巨大的现代化，要求以保障人民健康为根本任务，走预防为主、系统连续的低成本—高绩效之路。习近平总书记指出：“拥有健康的人民意味着拥有更强大的综合国力和可持续发展能力。”确保14亿多人口整体迈入现代化，必须首先解决好全民健康问题，这是人口高质量发展的基础，是将人口规模优势转化为人力资本和发展优势的前提。解决好如此规模巨大人口的健康问题面临多重复杂挑战。一方面，我国同时面对发达国家和发展中国家的健康问题，传染病与慢性病等多重疾病威胁并存，慢性病发病率持续上升且呈现年轻化、共病化趋势，超重肥胖等生活行为相关疾病负担重。另一方面，我国正经历全球规模最大、速度最快的人口结构转型。老年人口规模大、增长快，老年性疾病综合诊治和康复、护理、医养结合等需求快速增长。同时，稳定新出生人口规模、提高出生人口质量对生殖健康、早孕关爱、出生缺陷防控等提出更高要求，儿童青少年体重、视力、骨骼、口腔等方面的健康需求也日益凸显。面对上述挑战，必须围绕人民群众全方位全周期健康需求，优化防治康管全链条整合型服务，构建以健康为中心的服务、筹资、信息数据和评价体系，筑牢人口规模巨大现代化的健康根基。

The modernization of common prosperity for all the people requires taking public welfare as the fundamental orientation and following a path of balanced and inclusive development. Health is the foundation of people's all-round development and an important manifestation of development capacity. Health equity is the unity of equality of opportunity and equality of outcome. Achieving universal health coverage is both an inherent goal of common prosperity and its foundation and prerequisite. At present, the unbalanced development of health in China remains relatively prominent, with gaps in resource allocation, service levels, and health outcomes between urban and rural areas and among regions. Promoting coordinated development between urban and rural areas and among regions requires prioritizing investment in health and striving to promote health equity. This demands that we unwaveringly uphold the public welfare nature of basic medical and health services, correctly handle the relationships between fairness and efficiency, government and market, and basic and non-basic services, adhere to government leadership, public welfare leadership, and public hospital leadership, and ensure that everyone has access to basic medical and health services. At the same time, we must leverage the advantages of the socialist system, improve the long-term mechanism for preventing and resolving the risk of returning to poverty due to illness, increase efforts tilted toward rural areas and the central and western regions, narrow the gaps in health resource allocation, medical services, and health outcomes among urban and rural populations and regions, and ensure that health achievements more equitably benefit all the people.

全体人民共同富裕的现代化，要求以公益性为根本导向，走均衡普惠发展之路。健康是人的全面发展的基础，也是发展能力的重要体现。健康公平是机会公平与结果公平的统一。实现全民健康覆盖，既是共同富裕的内在目标，也是共同富裕的基础和前提。当前，我国卫生健康发展不平衡问题仍较为突出，城乡区域间资源配置、服务水平和健康结果仍有差距。促进城乡区域协调发展，要求优先投资于健康、着力促进健康公平。这要求我们毫不动摇坚持基本医疗卫生事业的公益性质，正确处理公平与效率、政府与市场、基本与非基本的关系，坚持政府主导、公益性主导、公立医院主导，保障人人享有基本医疗卫生服务。同时，发挥社会主义制度优势，健全防范化解因病返贫致贫长效机制，加大向农村、中西部地区倾斜力度，缩小城乡区域人群间健康资源配置、医疗服务和健康结果的差距，让健康成果更公平惠及全体人民。

The modernization of material and cultural-ethical progress requires taking health culture as internal support and following a path of self-disciplined and self-reliant health civilization. Chinese-path modernization requires both material abundance and spiritual enrichment. In traditional Chinese culture, "jian" (健) emphasizes the strength of spirit and will, while "kang" (康) emphasizes physical robustness; "health" (健康) is precisely the concentrated expression of the unity of form and spirit and the joint cultivation of body and mind. Therefore, China's health development has always placed equal emphasis on physical health and mental health, integrating the concept of holistic health throughout the entire process of safeguarding people's health. From the Patriotic Health Campaign [3]3 The Patriotic Health Campaign is a mass health movement initiated by the Chinese Communist Party in 1952, originally aimed at improving sanitation and preventing disease, especially in the context of the Korean War and potential biological warfare. It has since become a long-term national campaign for public health and hygiene. becoming a social revolution of "transforming customs and remaking the country," to the concept that "everyone is the first responsible person for their own health" taking root in people's hearts, health work has always been an important vehicle for enhancing the level of social civilization. At present, improving the health literacy level of Chinese residents, changing unhealthy lifestyles caused by deep-seated factors in the social and cultural environment, and addressing common mental disorders and psychological behavioral problems such as anxiety and depression require us to deeply integrate health culture into the construction of advanced socialist culture, so that the pursuit of health is elevated from individual self-discipline to a social norm, guiding the masses to form a healthy and civilized lifestyle, and cultivating a national mentality of proactive health, self-confidence and self-reliance, and rationality and equanimity, thereby nurturing a new trend of civilized times.

物质文明和精神文明相协调的现代化，要求以健康文化为内在支撑，走自主自律的健康文明之路。中国式现代化既要物质富足，也要精神富有。我国传统文化中“健”偏重精神和意志的坚强，“康”偏重身体的强健，“健康”正是形神合一、身心共养的集中体现。因此，我国卫生与健康发展始终坚持身体健康和心理健康并重，把整体健康理念贯穿于维护人民健康的全过程。从爱国卫生运动成为“移风易俗、改造国家”的一场社会革命，到“每个人是自己健康第一责任人”理念深入人心，卫生健康工作始终是提升社会文明程度的重要载体。当前，提高我国居民的健康素养水平，改变社会文化环境深层原因造成的不健康生活方式，解决焦虑、抑郁等常见精神障碍及心理行为问题，要求我们将健康文化深度融入社会主义先进文化建设，使追求健康从个体自觉升华为社会风尚，引导广大群众形成健康文明生活方式，在培育主动健康、自信自强、理性平和的国民心态中涵养时代文明新风。

The modernization of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature requires taking the priority development of health as a guide to promote the transformation of the development model, following a path of ecological priority and green development. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "A good ecological environment is the foundation of human survival and health." Clean air, clean water sources, safe food, and a livable environment are not only the needs of the people for a beautiful ecological environment but also the bottom-line needs for ensuring people's health. The essence of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature lies in shifting from passive response to active identification, intervention, and effective control of environmental health risks, integrating the concepts of ecological priority and health priority into all fields and links of economic and social development. To this end, it is necessary to coordinate the construction of Healthy China and Beautiful China, implement a strategy of priority development of health, comprehensively establish a health impact assessment system, promote the systematic optimization of urban and rural planning, industrial development, energy, transportation, and other fields in a direction conducive to people's health, build a health-promoting society on the basis of building a resource-conserving and environment-friendly society, and consolidate the green foundation of universal health in the harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.

人与自然和谐共生的现代化，要求以健康优先发展为导向推动发展方式转型，走生态优先、绿色发展之路。习近平总书记指出：“良好的生态环境是人类生存与健康的基础。”清新的空气、洁净的水源、放心的食物、宜居的环境，既是人民群众优美生态环境的需要，更是保障人民健康的底线需求。人与自然和谐共生的实质，在于从被动应对转向主动识别、干预和有效控制环境健康风险，将生态优先和健康优先理念融入经济社会发展各领域各环节。为此，要统筹健康中国与美丽中国建设，实施健康优先发展战略，全面建立健康影响评估制度，推动城乡规划、产业发展、能源交通等各领域向有利于人民健康的方向系统优化，在建设资源节约型、环境友好型社会基础上，建设健康促进型社会，在人与自然和谐共生中筑牢全民健康的绿色根基。

The modernization of taking the path of peaceful development requires demonstrating the responsibility of a major country by enhancing the health and well-being of all humanity, following a path of openness, cooperation, and mutual benefit. Chinese-path modernization seeks its own development while firmly safeguarding world peace and development, and in turn, better safeguards and promotes world peace and development through its own development. China's health development has always practiced the concept that "when the great Way prevails, the world is for the common good" [4]4 "When the great Way prevails, the world is for the common good" (大道之行也，天下为公) is a classical Confucian ideal from the *Book of Rites* (《礼记》), describing a utopian society where public spirit governs and resources are shared for the benefit of all.. For over sixty years, it has continuously sent medical aid teams to other developing countries, jointly responded to global public health crises such as Ebola and the COVID-19 pandemic, and promoted the building of a global community of health for all. At present, changes unseen in a century are accelerating, and the deficit in global public health governance remains prominent. The modernization of taking the path of peaceful development requires us to more actively participate in and lead global health governance, contributing Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to enhancing the health and well-being of all humanity.

走和平发展道路的现代化，要求以增进人类健康福祉彰显大国担当，走开放合作、互利共赢之路。中国式现代化在坚定维护世界和平与发展中谋求自身发展，又以自身发展更好维护和促进世界和平与发展。中国卫生健康发展始终践行“大道之行也，天下为公”的理念，六十余载向其他发展中国家持续派遣援外医疗队，携手应对埃博拉、新冠疫情等全球公共卫生危机，推动构建人类卫生健康共同体。当前，世界百年未有之大变局加速演进，全球公共卫生治理赤字依然突出。走和平发展道路的现代化，要求我们更加主动地参与和引领全球卫生治理，为增进人类健康福祉贡献中国智慧与中国方案。

The period of the 14th Five-Year Plan is a critical period for fully completing the goals and tasks of the "Healthy China 2030" Plan Outline and laying a solid foundation for building a Healthy China by 2035. To accelerate the construction of a Healthy China during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, it is necessary to accelerate the transformation of path advantages into governance effectiveness. We must adhere to the Party's overall leadership over health undertakings, improve the coordination mechanism for advancing the construction of a Healthy China, and give full play to the Party's core leadership role in overseeing the overall situation and coordinating all parties. Adhere to the priority development of health, strengthen rigid constraints such as development planning, capital investment, and factor guarantees, fully implement the Party's health work policy, build a strong health security barrier with a robust public health system, consolidate the foundation for high-quality population development through the improvement of universal health literacy, promote common prosperity through high-quality and balanced health services, and support high-level self-reliance and self-strengthening through scientific and technological innovation oriented toward people's life and health. Strengthen the construction of the institutional system, improve the policy and institutional system for health promotion, and promote the transformation of value concepts and development models toward promoting health.

“十五五”时期是全面完成《“健康中国2030”规划纲要》目标任务、为2035年建成健康中国夯实基础的关键时期。“十五五”时期加快建设健康中国，需加快将道路优势转化为治理效能。要坚持党对卫生与健康事业的全面领导，完善健康中国建设推进协调机制，充分发挥党总揽全局、协调各方的领导核心作用。坚持健康优先发展，强化发展规划、资金投入、要素保障等刚性约束，全面落实党的卫生与健康工作方针，以强大的公共卫生体系构筑健康安全屏障，以全民健康素质的提高夯实人口高质量发展基础，以优质均衡的健康服务促进共同富裕，以面向人民生命健康的科技创新助力高水平自立自强。加强制度体系建设，健全健康促进政策制度体系，推动价值理念、发展方式向促进健康转型。

(The author is a researcher at the Institute of Medical Information, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences)

（作者为中国医学科学院医学信息研究所研究员）