Full Text: Development of China's Public Health as an Essential Element of Human Rights
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IV. Great Improvement in the Quality of Medical and Health Services

China is committed to improving the accessibility and convenience of medical and health resources, and the quality and efficiency of medical services at the same time. It aims to accelerate the building of an integrated medical and health service system of good quality and high efficiency, and improve the medicine supply system. More and more people are satisfied with their visits to hospitals.

The resource factors of the medical and health-service system keep increasing. From 2011 to 2015, China invested RMB42 billion to support the building of 1,500 county-level hospitals, 18,000 town and township health centers, and more than 100,000 village clinics and community health centers. By the end of 2016, there were 983,394 medical and health institutions in China, among which 29,140 were hospitals (12,708 public hospitals and 16,432 private ones), 36,795 town and township health centers, 34,327 community health centers (stations), 3,481 disease prevention and control centers, 2,986 health inspection institutes (centers), and 638,763 village clinics; there were also 5.291 million items of medical equipment each worth RMB10,000 or more, among which 125,000 were worth more than RMB1 million each. In 2016, the number of beds in medical institutions increased by 395,000 compared with 2015 - 5.37 beds for every 1,000 people; the number of beds in hospitals increased by 358,000. There were 266 hospitals of ethnic healthcare, with 26,484 beds, providing 9.687 million treatment sessions annually, and the number of discharged patients reached 588,000.

Table 2 Beds in medical and health institutions for every 1,000 people

(Editor's note: Please find the chart released by Xinhua's Photographic News Department.)

Graphics shows beds in medical and health institutions for every 1,000 people written in the "Development of China's Public Health as an Essential Element of Human Rights" white paper, issued by the State Council Information Office. (Xinhua/Ma Yan)

Health personnel optimized. China has built a medical education system of the largest scale in the world. By the end of 2016, there were 922 medical colleges and universities in China, 1,564 secondary schools with medical courses, 238 organizations granting master's degrees, and 92 granting doctoral degrees. The number of students at these schools had reached 3.95 million, among whom 1.14 million were students of clinical majors and 1.8 million of nursing majors. Fourteen educational institutions now offer specialties in ethnic healthcare, and research into ethnic healthcare in TCM majors, with about 170,000 students. TCM colleges in Yunnan, Guangxi and Guizhou offer undergraduate specialties of healthcare of the Dai, Zhuang and Miao peoples. Some ethnic-healthcare colleges and TCM colleges cooperate to cultivate personnel specializing in ethnic healthcare. By the end of 2016, the number of health workers totaled 11.173 million, with 8.454 million technical personnel, and 2.31 physicians for every 1,000 people; practicing (assistant) physicians with a college degree or above made up 81.2 percent of the total. The number of high-caliber professionals is increasing year by year. The number of nurses for every 1,000 people has reached 2.54, and the ratio of doctors to nurses has reached 1:1.1.

The non-governmental sectors operating hospitals are growing. China supports non-governmental sectors in starting non-profit medical institutions, and promotes equal treatment between non-profit private hospitals and public hospitals. We encourage physicians to make use of their spare time, and retired physicians to work in community medical and health institutions or open clinics. Private hospitals now account for more than 57 percent of all hospitals, the number of beds in medical and health institutions operated by non-governmental sectors has increased by 81 percent compared with 2011, and their outpatient visits take up 22 percent of the total in China. Now, of the physicians who have obtained licenses that give them permission to work for more than one organization, more than 70 percent also work in medical institutions operated by non-governmental sectors.

Community and rural medical conditions further improve. China gives priority to community and rural medical development in terms of the establishment of medical and health systems, the setting up of medical service institutions and the team building of medical service personnel. It takes county-level hospitals as the medical and health centers of the county, and places them at the core of the three-tier rural medical and health service network at the county, township and village levels. It focuses on the operation of one or two county-level hospitals (including TCM hospitals) in each county (city). Now almost every town or township has a health center, every administrative village has a village clinic, and every 1,000 rural residents have a village doctor.

Medical and health service supply is becoming more refined and targeted. China has established a mechanism for serious illness prevention and control that combines professional public health institutions, general and specialized hospitals, and community medical and health institutions. We are enhancing the mechanism for information sharing and inter-connection, promoting the integrated development of chronic disease prevention, control and management, and realizing the combination of treatment and prevention. We are building a comprehensive classified diagnosis and treatment system, guiding the formation of a rational medical treatment order featuring primary treatment at the community level, two-way transfer treatment, interconnection between different levels and different treatments for acute and chronic diseases, and improving the service chain of treatment, rehabilitation and long-term care. The diagnosis and treatment rate based on appointments in Grade III hospitals has reached 38.6 percent, and nearly 400 medical institutions have set up ambulatory surgery centers. We are also providing family physician contracted services. More than 80 percent of citizens are satisfied with the skills and attitude of family physicians. The people's service experience has greatly improved.

The quality and the safety level of medical services continues to rise. We have formulated Medical Quality Management Measures, gradually established and improved the medical quality management and control system, released quality control indicators, and conducted informationalized quality monitoring and feedback. We have promoted clinical pathway management (CPM) by developing 1,212 clinical pathways, which cover almost all common and frequently occurring diseases. We have released and implemented the National Action Plan to Contain Antimicrobial Resistance (2016-2020), to resolve the problem of antimicrobial resistance in a comprehensive way. We have also strengthened supervision over prescription and drug use. In 2016, the rate of inpatients using antibacterial drugs was 37.5 percent, 21.9 percentage points lower than in 2011; the usage rate in outpatient prescriptions was 8.7 percent, a decrease of 8.5 percentage points compared with the rate in 2011. Medical liability insurance covers more than 90 percent of hospitals at Grade II and above. We attach great importance to blood safety and supply. By the end of 2015, we had realized the full coverage of nucleic acid tests in blood stations, with a blood safety level equivalent to that of developed countries. We also encourage voluntary unpaid blood donations and rational clinical use of blood. In 2016, 14 million people donated blood gratis, an increase of 6.1 percent over 2015 and almost satisfying the demand for clinical blood use. Donation has become the main source of organs for transplants.

The drug supply security system keeps improving. This system, based on the national basic drug system, has made great headway. Since the implementation of the policy, the prices of basic drugs have dropped by about 30 percent on average, and basic drugs have been sold in community-level medical and health institutions with zero markup, easing the financial burden on patients. We initiated the first round of pilot projects of national drug price negotiation, reducing the purchasing prices of drugs for hepatitis B and non-small-cell lung cancer by over 50 percent, making them the lowest in the world. By the end of 2016, the patients' expenses had been reduced by nearly RMB100 million. We have also improved the policy that ensures drug supply for rare diseases, and increased the free supply of special drugs, for instance, drugs for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. China encourages medical and pharmaceutical innovation, launching a key project named the National New Drug Innovation Program. From 2011 to 2015, 323 innovative drugs in China were approved for clinical research, 16 innovative drugs including Icotinib Hydrochloride Tablets were approved for production, 139 new chemical generic drugs entered the market, a total of more than 600 Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and over 60 pharmaceutical companies reached the international advanced GMP standard, and a number of large medical equipment such as PET-CT and 128-MSCT, and advanced implantable products including brain pacemaker, bioprosthetic valve and artificial cochlea have been approved and entered the market. We have promoted the building of a modern medical and pharmaceutical distribution network that covers both the urban and rural areas, and strengthened drug supply security at the community level and in remote areas.

TCM is receiving more support from the government. From 2013 to 2015, China invested a special fund of RMB4.6 billion to support the capacity building of TCM. In 2016, it issued the Outline of the Strategic Plan on the Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine (2016-2030). The revenue generated by Chinese medicine producers each with turnover over RMB20 million per annum reached RMB865.3 billion in that year, accounting for about one third of the total revenue generated by all the drug producers each with turnover over RMB20 million per annum in China. Since 2011, 49 achievements in TCM scientific research have received national science and technology awards. Artemisinin, medicines for curing acute promyelocytic leukemia and other TCM and Western medicine research findings have attracted worldwide attention.

V. Improvement of the National Medical Security System

China has been vigorously improving its national medical security system. Now a multi-layered and wide-ranging medical security system covers the whole population, mainly supported by basic medical security, and supplemented by various forms of supplementary insurance and commercial health insurance. The country has preliminarily realized basic healthcare for every citizen.

Basic medical insurance covers all urban and rural residents. The whole population is now covered by medical insurance, which is mainly composed of basic medical insurance for working urban residents, basic medical insurance for non-working urban residents, and the new type of rural cooperative medical care. By the end of 2016 basic medical insurance had more than 1.3 billion recipients nationwide - a coverage of above 95 percent. In 2016 China officially integrated basic medical insurance for non-working urban residents and the new type of rural cooperative medical care, to unify insurance coverage, funding policies, insured treatment, reimbursement catalogues, management of contracted medical institutions and fund management. In this way, the system of basic medical insurance for urban and rural residents was established step by step, so that urban and rural residents now enjoy equal access to basic medical insurance.

Support for basic medical insurance schemes and its sustainability have been increasing. The income and expenditure of the basic medical insurance fund for working urban residents in 2016 were RMB1,027.4 billion and RMB828.7 billion respectively - RMB421.2 billion and RMB341.9 billion more than those of 2012, representing an annual increase of 15.7 percent and 15.6 percent on average. The income and expenditure of the basic medical insurance fund for non-working urban residents were RMB281.1 billion and RMB248 billion, respectively - RMB193.4 billion and RMB180.5 billion more than those of 2012. In 2017 government subsidies for basic medical insurance for non-working urban and rural residents are increased, with annual per capita subsidies at all levels reaching RMB450.

Basic medical insurance benefits have been improved. In 2016 the payment caps of the basic medical insurance for working urban residents and for non-working urban residents were six times local employees' average salary of the year and local residents' per capita disposable income of the year, respectively; inpatient reimbursement rates from basic medical insurance were about 80 percent and 70 percent, respectively. In 2017 outpatient and inpatient reimbursement rates from the new type of rural cooperative medical care scheme are about 50 percent and 70 percent, respectively. The National Medicine List for Basic Medical Insurance, Industrial Injury Insurance and Maternity Insurance (2017) includes 2,535 items of Western medicines and Chinese patent medicines, with 339 more medicines than those in the previous list, or an increase of 15 percent, almost including all therapeutic medicines in the National Essential Medicine List (2012). As for expensive patent medicines with high clinical value, the government organized talks on medicines covered by the insurance and added 36 items to the National Essential Medicine List (2012) for the treatment of malignant tumors, and some rare and chronic diseases. Some newly added rehabilitation treatments are now covered by basic medical insurance.

Forms of reimbursements from basic medical insurance have been improved. More than 70 percent of regions in China are exploring new forms of payment from basic medical insurance, such as payment by a certain category of disease, by capitation or by Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs). The country has been building a national network of basic medical insurance, promoting cross-province real-time reimbursement from basic medical insurance, and the use of all-purpose card. By the end of August 2017, real-time reimbursements had been realized for all areas covered by basic medical insurance across the country; real-time reimbursements for cross-region inpatient medical expenses within the same province had been basically realized in the country. A national real-time reimbursement network for cross-province inpatient expenses has been put in place, and all provinces (including Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps) have joined the national network of cross-province reimbursement of basic medical insurance. By the end of August 2017, China had a total of 6,616 designated medical institutions for real-time reimbursements of cross-province inpatient expenses.

Serious illness insurance for urban and rural residents has been improved. China has implemented serious illness insurance for urban and rural residents, aiming to cover large medical expenses, and improve medical security for serious illnesses. By the end of 2015 serious illness insurance for urban and rural residents covered all recipients of basic medical insurance. In 2016 serious illness insurance covered more than 1 billion urban and rural residents; according to provincial policies, the serious illness insurance reimbursement rates shall be more than 50 percent, and the actual reimbursement ratio was raised by 10 to 15 percentage points.

Medical assistance mechanisms have made marked progress. A medical assistance policy framework has been established; medical assistance programs dovetail nicely with serious illness insurance schemes; and medical assistance criteria and capacity have become consistent in both urban and rural areas. Medical assistance recipients have been expanded from subsistence allowance recipients and people in dire poverty to the poverty-stricken population, low-income household members and critically-ill patients in illness-stricken poor families. Trade unions at all levels have been organizing employees' mutual aid for medical expenses, to help employees with serious illnesses and reduce their financial burden. In 2016 China appropriated RMB15.5 billion in medical assistance subsidies (excluding illness emergency assistance subsidies), 92 percent of which went to central and western regions, and poverty-stricken areas, assisted 82.565 million cases, and helped 55.604 million people with financial difficulties to receive basic medical insurance. The proportion of inpatient recipients within the annual limit exceeded 70 percent. Medical assistance services have become more convenient, as 93 percent of the country has realized one-stop reimbursement from medical assistance funds and basic medical insurance. In 2013 China set up an illness emergency assistance fund to help unidentified patients who need immediate treatment, or identified patients who cannot afford the related medical expenses. By June 2017 some 640,000 patients had received help from the fund.

Medical security for the rural poverty-stricken population has been improved. In 2016 China started to implement poverty relief through healthcare. Now the rural poverty-stricken population is fully covered by both basic medical insurance and serious illness insurance for urban and rural residents. The inpatient reimbursement rates for the rural poverty-stricken population have been raised by more than five percentage points. China has mobilized over 800,000 medical workers to visit illness-and-poverty-stricken families, and investigate 93 major diseases with high occurrence, high treatment costs and severe impact on work and life, thereby keeping a record and setting up a database for poverty relief through healthcare. The country provides categorized treatment to rural poverty-stricken population suffering from serious illnesses and chronic diseases. By May 2017 China had given such treatment to over 2.6 million people. The country has adopted preferential policies favoring the rural poor with respect to reimbursement from serious illness insurance. China implements a policy of treatment before payment and one-stop reimbursement for rural poverty-stricken inpatients at county-level hospitals. In addition, China has designated 889 Grade III (top-level) hospitals to assist 1,149 county-level hospitals in all poverty-stricken counties across the country.

VI. Significant Improvement in the Health of Special Groups

The Chinese government attaches great importance to the protection of the right to health of special groups such as women, children, the elderly and the disabled. It constantly improves health programs, and provides diversified and targeted health services to meet the special needs of various groups in a non-discriminatory and equal manner.

The maternal and child healthcare service system has been continuously improved. A three-level network of maternal and child healthcare service has been put in place in urban and rural areas. In 2016, the Chinese government invested RMB2.9 billion to support the construction of 247 city- and county-level maternal and child healthcare institutions. By the end of 2016, there were 3,063 such institutions, 757 maternity hospitals, 117 children's hospitals, and 370,000 gynecologists, obstetricians and pediatricians, and assistants. Full-time and part-time maternal and child healthcare workers were available in 34,000 community health centers (stations), 37,000 town and township health centers and 640,000 village clinics.

Antenatal and perinatal care services have been upgraded. Since 2009, the Chinese government has been expanding year by year the coverage of cervical cancer and breast cancer screening programs in rural areas, and the number of beneficiaries has grown. Between 2009 and 2016, the government carried out free cervical cancer screening for more than 60 million rural women aged 35-64 in 1,299 project counties, and subsidized more than 74 million rural pregnant and lying-in women with a special investment of RMB22.6 billion. The rate of hospital deliveries for rural women increased from 92.3 percent in 2008 to 99.6 percent in 2016, and rates of maternal and infant mortality in rural areas decreased sharply. The government arranged subsidies for 11 programs, including free pre-pregnancy examinations for healthy childbirth, hospital deliveries for rural women, supplementary taking of folic acid by rural women to prevent neural tube defects, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B. The targets of the Program for the Development of Chinese Women (2011-2020) have been met one by one.

Children's health has improved remarkably. In 2013, the pure breastfeeding rate of babies aged 0-6 months increased to 58.5 percent nationwide. The breastfeeding rate keeps growing. In 2016, infant mortality was 7.5 per thousand and that of children under five was 10.2 per thousand, both meeting the targets set in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Program for the Development of Chinese Children (2011-2020) ahead of schedule. This shows that the gap between China and developed countries is rapidly narrowing. In 2016, for children under five, the underweight and growth retardation rates, and anemia prevalence decreased to 1.49 percent, 1.15 percent and 4.79 percent, respectively - all meeting the targets set in the Program for the Development of Chinese Children (2011-2020) ahead of schedule. By the end of 2016, 30 state-level demonstration bases for children' s early development had been set up. The government has implemented a program of nutrition improvement for children in poverty-stricken areas, providing one pack of nutritional dietary supplements containing protein, vitamins and minerals every day for every baby aged 6-24 months in impoverished areas. According to the fifth survey of Chinese children' s physical development in 2016, in the past 40 years the physical development of children under seven improved rapidly, even higher than the child growth standards published by the WHO.

Children's disease control has been consolidated. In 2016, the rate of mother-to-child transmission of HIV decreased to 5.7 percent, and the incidence of neonatal tetanus was less than 1 per thousand. Children' s vaccination rate under the national childhood vaccine program was more than 99 percent. The country remains polio-free, and has a low reported incidence of tuberculosis in children. In 2016, the screening rate of inherited metabolic diseases (phenylketonuria and congenital hypothyroidism) reached 96 percent, and the neonatal disease screening program for poor areas covered 354 counties (cities or districts) in 21 provinces (autonomous regions and centrally administered municipalities). The Chinese government has been carrying out major public healthcare service programs such as free pre-pregnancy examination for healthy childbirth, screening of neonatal diseases in poor areas, and pilot prevention and control of thalassemia.

The healthcare service system for the elderly has improved. By the end of 2015, there were 453 rehabilitation hospitals, 168 nursing homes and 65 nursing stations around China, up by 69.0 percent, 242.9 percent and 16.1 percent, respectively from 2010. The number of health personnel working in the above three kinds of institutions was 36,441, 11,180 and 316, respectively, up by 96.5 percent, 286.7 percent and 69.9 percent from 2010. In 2015, the government offered 118 million medical examinations to senior citizens aged 65 or above, a health management rate of 82 percent. The mental health of the elderly has also attracted full attention. Governmental and social organizations publicize related knowledge and provide mental health counseling to the elderly, while working to enrich their cultural life.

The combined medical and elderly care services have been promoted. In 2016, 90 cities (districts) were selected as state-level pilot units to provide combined medical and elderly care services. Across China there were 5,814 institutions providing both services, with a total of 1.2138 million beds. Of these, 3,623 were nursing institutions for the elderly that have established medical facilities, 1,687 were medical institutions that have added care services for the aged, and 504 were institutions offering both services. In total, 2,224 were among designated medical insurance institutions. Special steps have been taken to improve services at these nursing institutions for the elderly; as a result, we have seen a sounder quality control system and better services at these institutions combining medical service and ordinary care service.

Disability prevention and rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities have improved. In 2016, the Chinese government published the National Action Plan on Disability Prevention (2016-2020), and in 2017, the Regulations on Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation, bringing the work onto the track of the rule of law. From 2012 to 2016, 15.26 million people with disabilities received basic rehabilitation services nationwide. By the end of 2016, there were 7,858 rehabilitation institutions for the disabled around China, with 223,000 employees; and 947 municipal districts and 2,015 counties (cities) provided community-based rehabilitation services, with 454,000 coordinators. August 25 is China's Disability Prevention Day, as set in 2017.

Rehabilitation sports for the disabled have been expanded to more areas. The Chinese government has been working to improve basic sports facilities for the disabled since the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020). It has implemented a region-based guidance policy by advancing from west to east, from north to south and from the underdeveloped to the more-developed areas. Under this policy framework, the government has funded six western provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) in introducing rehabilitation sports into 8,000 households, from which a national campaign started, offering services to 88,884 households. It also subsidized 50 communities in installing fitness facilities as demonstration sites, and subsequently 1,842 new ones were set up nationwide. Now people with disabilities who regularly participate in sports and fitness activities make up 9.6 percent of the national total, a percentage higher than before.

Orphans with disabilities receive special care. Since 2015, the Chinese government has included sick and disabled children among urban and rural residents entitled to basic living allowances and people living in dire poverty and entitled to relief and support, and orphaned and disabled children who remain unsettled, in the Tomorrow Plan for Rehabilitation of Handicapped Orphans. In addition, it offers medical rehabilitation to these children with reference to treatment policies and practices of welfare institutions. Thanks to the Tomorrow Plan, tens of thousands of children have had operations and been integrated into society after recovery. At welfare institutions, all children with surgical indications who are new to these institutions are able to get surgery at the optimal opportunity for treatment. By the end of 2016, the country had invested RMB860 million in offering corrective operations and rehabilitation training to more than 90,000 orphans with disabilities.

VII. Active Participation in Global Health Governance and International Medical Assistance

China advocates, promotes and carries out international medical and health cooperation. It is firmly committed to realizing the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, and implementing the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially sustainable development goals relating to health. China actively provides medical aid to other countries, and promptly conducts global emergency responses. It earnestly implements international health conventions and shoulders its international humanitarian responsibilities.

Taking part in the formulation of international medical and health rules. China was one of the first countries in the world to sign and approve the Constitution of the World Health Organization. It has joined the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the Convention on Psychotropic Substances. China has participated in the making of a series of international treaties and declarations, including the Declaration of Alma-Ata, and supported the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children. At the 69th World Health Assembly held in 2016, China raised and promoted the adoption of a resolution to "promote innovation and access to quality, safe, efficacious and affordable medicines for children," getting positive responses from all sides.

Carrying out in-depth cooperation with the WHO. In 2016, the China-WHO Country Cooperation Strategy (2016-2020) was signed in Beijing, defining cooperation in health policies, planning, technology and human resources. In 2017, the Memorandum of Understanding on the Belt and Road Health Cooperation Mechanism and the Implementation Plan on the Belt and Road Health Cooperation Mechanism were signed to promote cooperation in health emergency response, prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, and traditional medicine between countries along the Belt and Road.

Extending international medical and health exchanges and cooperation. China conducts health experience sharing and strategic dialogue with other countries. It organizes a number of international medical and health seminars. In December 2015, cooperation plans on public health were announced at the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, including participation in the construction of African Center for Disease Control and Prevention and other major initiatives. In October 2016, China built partnerships with counterpart hospitals in 15 Asian and African countries, including Ethiopia. In April 2017, China signed medical and health cooperation agreements with Malawi and other African countries. Since 2005, China has trained thousands of officials and technical personnel from developing countries, and encouraged its non-governmental organizations to develop education and training projects on adolescent reproductive health and AIDS prevention in Zimbabwe and Kenya, as well as the Greater Mekong Sub-region.

Making outstanding achievements in international medical and health assistance. Since 1963, China has sent teams totaling 25,000 medical workers to 69 developing countries. They have diagnosed and treated a total of 280 million cases. In September 2015, China announced at relevant United Nations summits that it would take major health assistance actions for developing countries in the five years to come, including the construction of 100 hospitals and clinics, and the implementation of 100 "maternal and child health projects." By June 2017, more than 1,300 medical team members and public health experts from China were working in 51 countries, and over 20,000 health management and technical personnel had been trained in China for the recipient countries. It had built more than 150 facilities, including general hospitals, specialized centers and drug warehouses. China had provided batches of medical supplies to those countries including ambulances, diagnosis and treatment equipment, and vaccine cold chains. In the same period it donated antimalarial drugs to Africa, saving 40 million lives. Since 2008, China has built 30 malaria prevention and treatment centers in Africa, and provided RMB190 million worth of artemisinin-based antimalarial drugs.

Effectively conducting global emergency response. China has met the requirements for implementing the International Health Regulations. It has been playing an active and leading role in international emergency rescue, and has participated in the fight against epidemics, including yellow fever and Zika virus disease in Angola and Guyana. After the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa in 2014, China provided assistance including cash and supplies to epidemic-stricken countries and international organizations on four consecutive occasions, with a total value of US$120 million. More than 1,200 Chinese medical personnel and public-health experts had been sent to epidemic-stricken areas and neighboring countries to complete nearly 9,000 sample tests, observe and treat over 900 cases and train 13,000 local people in medical care and community-based prevention and control. After an 8.1-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal in 2015, the Chinese government sent four medical and epidemic prevention teams with a total of 193 members to the disaster area to help relief efforts. A total of 2,600 cases were treated and more than 1,000 core members of health and epidemic prevention work were trained.

International recognition of TCM continuing to grow. Now, 183 countries and regions around the world have access to TCM. TCM has become an important part of China's cooperation with regions and health organizations in ASEAN, Europe and Africa. TCM acupuncture and moxibustion have been recognized as important parts of the intangible heritage of mankind by UNESCO, and the Chinese medical classics Huangdi Neijing (Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor) and Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica) have been included in the UNESCO Memory of the World. According to statistics from the WHO, 103 member states have authorized the use of acupuncture and moxibustion, of which 29 have established laws and regulations promoting traditional medicines, and 18 include acupuncture and moxibustion in their medical insurance systems.

Author： 　　　Source：xinhua　　　 Editor：Yang Fan