Promulgated by: Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. Presidential Decree No. 38. Adopted at the Fifteenth Session of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People’s Congress on December 28, 2019. Effective June 1, 2020.
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1. This Law is formulated in accordance with the Constitution in order to develop the cause of medical care, health care and health promotion, ensure that citizens enjoy basic medical and health-care services, improve citizens’ health, and advance the building of a Healthy China.
Article 2. This Law applies to activities of medical care, health care, health promotion, and the supervision and administration thereof.
Article 3. The cause of medical care, health care and health promotion shall adhere to a people-centred approach and serve the health of the people.
Medical care and health-care undertakings shall adhere to the principle of public interest.
Article 4. The State and society respect and protect citizens’ right to health.
The State implements the Healthy China Strategy, promotes healthy living, optimises health services, improves health protection, develops healthy environments, grows health industries, and raises citizens’ health levels across the full life cycle.
The State establishes a health-education system, guarantees citizens’ right to receive health education, and improves citizens’ health literacy.
Article 5. Citizens are entitled, in accordance with law, to obtain basic medical and health-care services from the State and society.
The State establishes a basic medical and health-care system, builds and improves the medical and health-care service system, and protects and realises citizens’ right to obtain basic medical and health-care services.
Article 6. People’s governments at all levels shall place the people’s health in a strategically priority position for development, incorporate health concepts into all policies, adhere to prevention as the priority, improve the health-promotion work system, organise and implement health-promotion plans and actions, promote nationwide fitness, establish a health-impact assessment system, and incorporate improvement of citizens’ major health indicators into government performance assessments.
The whole of society shall jointly care about and support the development of medical care, health care and health promotion.
Article 7. The State Council and local people’s governments at all levels shall lead the work of medical care, health care and health promotion.
The health administration department of the State Council shall be responsible for coordinating national medical care, health care and health-promotion work. Other relevant departments of the State Council shall be responsible for related medical care, health care and health-promotion work within their respective scopes of duties.
Health administration departments of local people’s governments at or above the county level shall be responsible for coordinating medical care, health care and health-promotion work within their respective administrative regions. Other relevant departments of local people’s governments at or above the county level shall be responsible for related medical care, health care and health-promotion work within their respective scopes of duties.
Article 8. The State shall strengthen basic medical science research, encourage innovation in medical science and technology, support the development of clinical medicine, promote the conversion and application of medical science and technology achievements, advance the integration of medical care and health care with information technology, promote appropriate medical and health-care technologies, and improve the quality of medical and health-care services.
The State shall develop medical education, improve a medical education system adapted to the needs of the development of the medical care and health-care sector, and vigorously cultivate medical and health-care personnel.
Article 9. The State shall vigorously develop traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), adhere to equal emphasis on TCM and Western medicine and the integration of inheritance with innovation, and give full play to the unique role of TCM in the medical care, health care and health-promotion sector.
Article 10. The State shall rationally plan and allocate medical and health-care resources, focus on primary-level institutions, and take multiple measures to give priority support to the development of medical and health-care institutions below the county level so as to improve their medical and health-care service capacity.
Article 11. The State shall increase fiscal investment in the medical care, health care and health-promotion sector, and through increasing transfer payments and other means, give priority support to the development of medical care and health-care undertakings in revolutionary base areas, areas inhabited by ethnic minorities, border areas and economically underdeveloped areas.
Article 12. The State shall encourage and support citizens, legal persons, and other organisations to participate in the medical care, health care and health-promotion sector through lawfully establishing institutions, making donations, providing sponsorship, and other means, so as to meet citizens’ diverse, differentiated and personalised health needs.
Citizens, legal persons, and other organisations that donate property for the medical care, health care and health-promotion sector shall enjoy tax incentives in accordance with law.
Article 13. Organisations and individuals that have made outstanding contributions to the medical care, health care and health-promotion sector shall be commended and rewarded in accordance with State regulations.
Article 14. The State shall encourage and support international exchanges and cooperation in the field of medical care, health care and health promotion.
International exchanges and cooperation activities in medical care, health care and health promotion shall comply with laws and regulations and safeguard national sovereignty, security, and the public interest of society.
Chapter II Basic Medical and Health-Care Services
Article 15. “Basic medical and health-care services” refers to services for disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, nursing, and rehabilitation that are necessary to maintain human health, commensurate with the level of economic and social development, equitably accessible to citizens, and provided using appropriate medicines, appropriate technologies, and appropriate equipment.
Basic medical and health-care services include basic public-health services and basic medical services. Basic public-health services are provided by the State free of charge.
Article 16. The State shall take measures to ensure that citizens have access to safe and effective basic public-health services, control health risk factors, and raise the level of disease prevention and control.
The national basic public-health service programme shall be determined jointly by the health administration department of the State Council together with the finance department of the State Council, the TCM administration department, and other relevant departments.
People’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government may supplement the national basic public-health service programme by specifying additional basic public-health service programmes for their administrative regions and shall report such programmes to the health administration department of the State Council for filing.
Article 17. The State Council and people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government may incorporate services targeted at key areas, key diseases, and specific groups of people into the basic public-health service programme and organise their implementation.
Local people’s governments at or above the county level shall carry out special prevention and control work targeting major diseases and principal health risk factors in their administrative regions.
Article 18. People’s governments at or above the county level shall provide basic public-health services by establishing specialised public-health institutions, primary-level medical and health-care institutions, and hospitals, or by purchasing services from other medical and health-care institutions.
Article 19. The State shall establish and improve an emergency public-health response system for sudden incidents, formulate and improve emergency plans, and organise and conduct emergency public-health work such as medical rescue, epidemiological investigations, and psychological support in response to sudden incidents so as to effectively control and eliminate harm.
Article 20. The State shall establish a communicable-disease prevention and control system, formulate and implement plans for the prevention and treatment of communicable diseases, strengthen communicable-disease surveillance and early warning, adhere to prevention as the priority and combine prevention with treatment, implement joint prevention and control, community-based prevention and control, source prevention and control, and comprehensive governance, block transmission routes, protect susceptible populations, and reduce the harm caused by communicable diseases.
Any organisation and individual shall accept and cooperate with investigations, inspections, sample collections, isolation treatment, medical observation, and other measures lawfully taken by medical and health-care institutions to prevent, control, and eliminate the harm of communicable diseases.
Article 21. The State shall implement a vaccination system and strengthen immunisation planning work. Residents have the right and obligation to receive planned immunisation vaccines in accordance with law. The government shall provide planned immunisation vaccines to residents free of charge.
Article 22. The State shall establish a prevention and management system for non-communicable chronic diseases, conduct surveillance, investigation, and comprehensive prevention and intervention regarding non-communicable chronic diseases and their causative risk factors, promptly identify high-risk groups, and provide diagnosis and treatment, early intervention, follow-up management, and health-education services to patients and high-risk groups.
Article 23. The State shall strengthen occupational health protection. People’s governments at or above the county level shall formulate occupational disease prevention and treatment plans, establish and improve occupational health working mechanisms, strengthen occupational health supervision and administration, and raise the overall capacity and standard of occupational disease prevention and treatment.
Employing units shall control occupational disease risk factors, adopt comprehensive governance measures including engineering controls, personal protective equipment, and health management, and improve working environments and conditions.
Article 24. The State shall develop maternal and child health-care undertakings, establish and improve the maternal and child health-care service system, provide health-care and common-disease prevention and treatment services to women and children, and protect the health of women and children.
The State shall take measures to provide citizens with pre-marital health care, antenatal and perinatal health care, and other services, promote reproductive health, and prevent birth defects.
Article 25. The State shall develop health-care undertakings for the elderly. The State Council and people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government shall incorporate health management and common-disease prevention for the elderly into basic public-health service programmes.
Article 26. The State shall develop disability-prevention and disabled-persons’ rehabilitation undertakings, improve the disability-prevention and disabled-persons’ rehabilitation and support system, and take measures to provide basic rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities.
People’s governments at or above the county level shall give priority to rehabilitation work for children with disabilities, and shall integrate rehabilitation with education.
Article 27. The State shall establish and improve a pre-hospital emergency-care system to provide timely, standardised, and effective emergency services to patients in critical condition.
Health administration departments, Red Cross organisations, and other relevant departments and organisations shall actively carry out first-aid training and popularise first-aid knowledge; medical and health-care personnel and persons who have received first-aid training are encouraged to actively participate in first-aid services in public places. Public places shall be equipped with necessary first-aid equipment and facilities as required.
Emergency-care centres (stations) shall not refuse or delay providing emergency services to patients in critical condition on the grounds of non-payment.
Article 28. The State shall develop mental health undertakings, build and improve the mental health service system, maintain and promote citizens’ psychological health, and prevent and treat mental disorders.
The State shall take measures to strengthen the construction of the psychological health service system and talent pool, promote effective integration of psychological health education, psychological assessment, psychological counselling, and psychotherapy services, establish public-interest psychological assistance hotlines for the public, and strengthen psychological health services for key groups including minors, persons with disabilities, and the elderly.
Article 29. Basic medical services shall be provided mainly by government-funded medical and health-care institutions. Medical and health-care institutions established by social forces are encouraged to provide basic medical services.
Article 30. The State shall advance the implementation of a tiered diagnosis and treatment system for basic medical services, guide non-emergency patients to first seek treatment at primary-level medical and health-care institutions, implement a system of first-treating physician responsibility and referral review responsibility, and progressively establish a mechanism with primary-level first treatment, two-way referrals, separate management of acute and chronic conditions, and top-down linkage, which shall be integrated with the basic medical insurance system.
Local people’s governments at or above the county level shall, according to medical and health-care needs in their administrative regions, integrate government-funded medical and health-care resources within the region, and establish medical consortia and other coordinated and linked medical-service cooperation mechanisms suited to local conditions. Medical and health-care institutions established by social forces are encouraged to participate in medical-service cooperation mechanisms.
Article 31. The State shall advance the implementation of family-doctor contracted services at primary-level medical and health-care institutions, establish family-doctor service teams, sign agreements with residents, and provide basic medical and health-care services according to residents’ health status and medical needs.
Article 32. Citizens who receive medical and health-care services are entitled in accordance with law to informed consent regarding their condition, diagnosis and treatment plan, medical risks, medical costs, and other matters.
Where surgery, special examinations, or special treatment need to be carried out, medical and health-care personnel shall promptly explain to the patient the medical risks, alternative treatment options, and other matters, and obtain the patient’s consent; where it is not possible or appropriate to explain to the patient, explanations shall be given to the patient’s close relatives, and their consent shall be obtained. Where laws provide otherwise, those provisions shall apply.
Clinical trials of medicines and medical devices and other medical research shall comply with medical ethics norms, undergo ethics review in accordance with law, and obtain informed consent.
Article 33. Citizens who receive medical and health-care services shall be treated with respect. Medical and health-care institutions and medical and health-care personnel shall care for and show concern to patients, treat all patients equally, respect patients’ personal dignity, and protect patients’ privacy.
Citizens who receive medical and health-care services shall comply with the diagnosis and treatment system and the order of medical and health-care services, and shall respect medical and health-care personnel.
Chapter III Medical and Health-Care Institutions
Article 34. The State shall establish and improve a medical and health-care service system covering both urban and rural areas, with complementary functions and continuous coordination, composed of primary-level medical and health-care institutions, hospitals, specialised public-health institutions, and other entities.
The State shall strengthen the construction of county-level hospitals, township health centres, village clinics, community health service centres (stations), and specialised public-health institutions, and shall establish and improve rural medical and health-care service networks and urban community health-care service networks.
Article 35. Primary-level medical and health-care institutions shall primarily provide basic medical and health-care services including prevention, health care, health education, and disease management; establishing health records for residents; diagnosis and treatment of common and frequently occurring diseases and rehabilitation and nursing for some diseases; receiving patients transferred from hospitals; and referring to hospitals patients whose conditions exceed the institutions’ service capacity.
Hospitals shall primarily provide medical and health-care services including disease diagnosis and treatment — especially for critically ill, severely ill, and difficult-to-treat patients — medical treatment and emergency response for sudden incidents, and health education; and shall carry out medical education, training of medical and health-care personnel, medical science research, and guidance on the work of primary-level medical and health-care institutions.
Specialised public-health institutions shall primarily provide public-health services including prevention and control of communicable diseases, non-communicable chronic diseases, occupational diseases, and endemic diseases; health education; maternal and child health care; mental health; pre-hospital emergency care; blood collection and supply; food-safety risk monitoring and assessment; and birth-defect prevention and treatment.
Article 36. Medical and health-care institutions at all levels and of all types shall divide labour and collaborate, providing citizens with all-round and full-life-cycle medical and health-care services covering prevention, health care, treatment, nursing, rehabilitation, and palliative care.
People’s governments at all levels shall take measures to support medical and health-care institutions in establishing cooperation mechanisms with elderly-care institutions, children’s welfare institutions, and community organisations so as to provide safe and convenient medical and health services to the elderly and orphaned or disabled children.
Article 37. People’s governments at or above the county level shall formulate and implement plans for medical and health-care service systems, rationally allocate medical and health-care resources, and establish medical and health-care institutions to ensure that citizens can obtain basic medical and health-care services.
When the government establishes medical and health-care institutions, it shall take into account the population, level of economic and social development, medical and health-care resources, health risk factors, morbidity, prevalence, and emergency medical needs of the administrative region.
Article 38. To establish a medical institution, the following conditions shall be met, and approval or filing procedures shall be completed in accordance with relevant State regulations:
(1) there is a name, organisational structure, and premises that comply with requirements;
(2) there are funds, facilities, equipment, and medical and health-care personnel commensurate with its business activities;
(3) there are corresponding rules and regulations;
(4) it is able to independently bear civil liability; and
(5) other conditions prescribed by laws and administrative regulations.
Medical institutions shall obtain a practice licence in accordance with law. Forging, altering, buying, selling, renting out, or lending a medical institution practice licence is prohibited.
The specific conditions and configuration of medical and health-care institutions at all levels and of all types shall comply with the standards for medical and health-care institutions formulated by the health administration department of the State Council.
Article 39. The State shall implement classified management of medical and health-care institutions.
The medical and health-care service system shall be anchored in non-profit medical and health-care institutions as the main body, with profit-making medical and health-care institutions as a supplement. Government-funded non-profit medical and health-care institutions shall play a leading role in basic medical and health-care undertakings and ensure the fair accessibility of basic medical and health-care services.
Medical and health-care institutions established or co-established with government funds or donated assets shall not be set up as profit-making medical and health-care institutions.
Medical and health-care institutions shall not rent out or contract out medical departments to outside parties. Non-profit medical and health-care institutions shall not distribute or covertly distribute profits to investors or founders.
Article 40. Government-funded medical and health-care institutions shall adhere to their public-interest nature; all revenues and expenditures shall be incorporated into budgetary management; and they shall be rationally established and their scale controlled in accordance with medical and health-care service system plans.
The State shall encourage government-funded medical and health-care institutions to cooperate with social forces to establish non-profit medical and health-care institutions.
Government-funded medical and health-care institutions shall not jointly invest with other organisations to establish medical and health-care institutions that lack independent legal-person status, and shall not cooperate with social capital to establish profit-making medical and health-care institutions.
Article 41. The State shall take multiple measures to encourage and guide social forces to lawfully establish medical and health-care institutions, and shall support and regulate medical and health-care institutions established by social forces in carrying out various forms of cooperation with government-funded medical and health-care institutions in medical services, discipline building, and personnel training.
Medical and health-care institutions established by social forces shall enjoy the same rights as government-funded medical and health-care institutions in respect of designation as basic medical insurance providers, key specialty construction, scientific research and education, grade evaluation, access to specific medical technologies, and professional title assessment for medical and health-care personnel.
Social forces may choose to establish non-profit or profit-making medical and health-care institutions. Non-profit medical and health-care institutions established by social forces shall, in accordance with regulations, enjoy the same policies as government-funded medical and health-care institutions regarding taxes, fiscal subsidies, and the use of land, water, electricity, gas, and heat, and shall accept supervision and administration in accordance with law.
Article 42. The State shall, on the basis of established medical and health-care institutions, rationally plan and establish national medical centres and national and provincial regional medical centres to treat difficult and serious illnesses, conduct research to overcome major medical challenges, and train high-level medical and health-care personnel.
Article 43. Medical and health-care institutions shall comply with laws, regulations, and rules, establish and improve internal quality management and control systems, and bear responsibility for the quality of medical and health-care services.
Medical and health-care institutions shall carry out examinations, prescribe medicines, and provide diagnosis and treatment in a rational manner in accordance with clinical diagnostic and treatment guidelines, clinical technical operating standards, industry standards, and medical ethics norms; shall strengthen the prevention of medical and health-care safety risks; shall optimise service processes; and shall continuously improve the quality of medical and health-care services.
Article 44. The State shall implement classified management of the clinical application of medical and health-care technologies, and shall apply strict management to medical and health-care technologies that present high technical difficulty or high medical risk and that require a high level of service capacity and professional technical competence.
Medical and health-care institutions engaging in the clinical application of medical and health-care technologies shall ensure that such application is commensurate with their functions and tasks, and shall follow the principles of science, safety, standardisation, effectiveness, and economy, and comply with ethics.
Article 45. The State shall establish a modern hospital management system characterised by clear rights and responsibilities, scientific management, sound governance, efficient operation, and effective supervision.
Hospitals shall formulate charters, establish and improve legal-person governance structures, and improve medical and health-care service capacity and operational efficiency.
Article 46. Medical and health-care institutions’ premises are public places for the provision of medical and health-care services; no organisation or individual shall disrupt order therein.
Article 47. The State shall improve medical risk-sharing mechanisms, encourage medical institutions to participate in medical liability insurance or to establish medical risk funds, and encourage patients to participate in medical accident insurance.
Article 48. The State shall encourage medical and health-care institutions to continuously improve technologies, equipment, and services in prevention, health care, diagnosis, treatment, nursing, and rehabilitation, and shall support the development of medical and health-care technologies suited to primary-level and remote areas.
Article 49. The State shall advance the informatisation of health coverage for all, promote the application and development of big health-care data, artificial intelligence (AI), and other technologies, accelerate the construction of medical and health-care information infrastructure, formulate technical standards for the collection, storage, analysis, and application of health-care data, and use information technology to promote the universalisation and sharing of quality medical and health-care resources.
People’s governments at or above the county level and their relevant departments shall take measures to advance the application of information technology in the medical and health-care sector and in medical education, and support the exploration of new models and new forms of medical and health-care services.
The State shall take measures to advance medical and health-care institutions’ establishment and improvement of medical and health-care information exchange and information-security systems, apply information technology to provide telemedicine services, and build an integrated online and offline medical service model.
Article 50. When sudden incidents such as natural disasters, accident disasters, public-health events, and social-security events occur that seriously threaten the lives and health of the people, medical and health-care institutions and medical and health-care personnel shall follow the dispatch of government departments and participate in public-health emergency response and medical rescue. Those who become ill, disabled, or die as a result of their participation shall receive work-related injury benefits, consolation benefits, commendation for martyrs, or other relevant treatment in accordance with regulations.
Chapter IV Medical and Health-Care Personnel
Article 51. Medical and health-care personnel shall carry forward the noble professional spirit of revering life, saving the dying and healing the wounded, willingness to contribute selflessly, and boundless love; shall comply with industry norms and uphold medical ethics; and shall strive to improve their professional level and service quality.
Medical and health-care industry organisations, medical and health-care institutions, and medical colleges and universities shall strengthen medical ethics education for medical and health-care personnel.
Article 52. The State shall formulate plans for the cultivation of medical and health-care personnel, establish mechanisms for cultivating medical and health-care personnel that are adapted to industry characteristics and social needs and for balancing supply and demand, improve the education system covering medical college education, post-graduation education, and continuing education, establish and improve systems for standardised training of resident physicians and specialist physicians, and build a medical and health-care team of appropriate scale, rational structure, and balanced distribution.
The State shall strengthen the cultivation and employment of general practitioners. General practitioners shall primarily provide diagnosis and treatment of common and frequently occurring diseases, referrals, prevention, health care, and rehabilitation, as well as chronic disease management, health management, and other services.
Article 53. The State shall implement a system of practice registration for physicians, nurses, and other medical and health-care personnel in accordance with law. Medical and health-care personnel shall obtain corresponding professional qualifications in accordance with law.
Article 54. Medical and health-care personnel shall follow the rules of medical science, comply with relevant clinical diagnostic and treatment technical standards and operational standards as well as medical ethics norms, use appropriate technologies and medicines, carry out rational diagnosis and treatment tailored to the patient’s illness, and shall not subject patients to over-treatment.
Medical and health-care personnel shall not exploit their positions to solicit or unlawfully receive property or seek other improper benefits.
Article 55. The State shall establish and improve personnel, remuneration, and reward systems that reflect the characteristics of the medical and health-care sector, embody the professional characteristics and the value of the technical labour of medical and health-care personnel.
Medical and health-care personnel engaged in communicable-disease prevention and treatment, radiation medicine, and mental health work, as well as those working in other special posts, shall be paid appropriate allowances in accordance with State regulations. Standards for such allowances shall be adjusted regularly.
Article 56. The State shall establish a system requiring medical and health-care personnel to periodically provide medical and health-care services at primary-level institutions and in remote and difficult areas.
The State shall adopt measures such as targeted tuition-free training, pairing-up assistance, and rehiring of retirees to strengthen the construction of medical and health-care teams at primary-level institutions and in remote and difficult areas.
Practising physicians seeking promotion to associate senior technical positions shall have accumulated experience of at least one year providing medical and health-care services at medical and health-care institutions at or below the county level or at paired-up institutions.
Medical and health-care personnel working at primary-level institutions and in remote and difficult areas shall receive preferential treatment in respect of salary and allowances, professional title assessment, career development, education and training, and commendation and awards.
The State shall strengthen the construction of rural medical and health-care teams, establish a career development mechanism linking counties, townships, and villages, and improve the multi-channel supplementary compensation mechanism and retirement policies for rural medical and health-care personnel.
Article 57. The whole of society shall care about and respect medical and health-care personnel, maintain a good and safe order of medical and health-care services, and jointly build a harmonious doctor-patient relationship.
Medical and health-care personnel’s personal safety and personal dignity shall be inviolable, and their lawful rights and interests are protected by law. Any organisation or individual is prohibited from threatening or endangering the personal safety of medical and health-care personnel or infringing upon their personal dignity.
The State shall take measures to safeguard the practice environment for medical and health-care personnel.
Chapter V Drug Supply and Security
Article 58. The State shall improve the drug supply and security system, establish work coordination mechanisms, and ensure the safety, effectiveness, and accessibility of medicines.
Article 59. The State shall implement the essential medicines system, select an appropriate number of essential medicine varieties, and meet the basic medication needs for disease prevention and treatment.
The State shall publish the essential medicines catalogue and shall dynamically adjust it based on clinical drug application practices, changes to drug standards, and new drugs coming to market.
Essential medicines shall be incorporated into the basic medical insurance medicines catalogue on a priority basis as required.
The State shall improve the supply capacity for essential medicines, strengthen quality supervision of essential medicines, and ensure that essential medicines are equitably accessible and rationally used.
Article 60. The State shall establish and improve a clinical-demand-oriented drug review and approval system, and shall support the research, development, and production of urgently needed clinical medicines, paediatric medicines, and medicines for preventing and treating rare diseases and major diseases, so as to meet disease prevention and treatment needs.
Article 61. The State shall establish and improve a full-process traceability system covering the research and development, production, distribution, and use of medicines, strengthen drug administration, and ensure drug quality.
Article 62. The State shall establish and improve a drug price monitoring system, conduct cost and price surveys, strengthen drug price supervision and inspection, and investigate and deal with illegal acts such as price monopolies, price fraud, and unfair competition in accordance with law, so as to maintain orderly drug pricing.
The State shall strengthen the management and guidance of classified drug procurement. Bidders participating in drug procurement tenders shall not bid at prices below cost, and shall not engage in bid-rigging through fraud, collusion, abuse of market dominant position, or other means.
Article 63. The State shall establish central and local two-level pharmaceutical reserves to guarantee emergency needs in the event of major disasters, epidemics, and other sudden incidents.
Article 64. The State shall establish and improve a drug supply-and-demand monitoring system, promptly collect and summarise and analyse drug supply-and-demand information, and regularly publish information on drug production, distribution, and use.
Article 65. The State shall strengthen the administration of medical devices, improve medical device standards and norms, and raise the level of safety and effectiveness of medical devices.
The health administration department of the State Council and health administration departments of people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government shall, based on the advancement, suitability, and accessibility of technologies, compile plans for the configuration of large medical equipment so as to promote the rational configuration and full sharing of medical equipment within regions.
Article 66. The State shall strengthen the protection and development of Chinese medicine (zhongyao), fully reflect the characteristics and advantages of Chinese medicine, and give full play to its role in prevention, health care, medical treatment, and rehabilitation.
Chapter VI Health Promotion
Article 67. People’s governments at all levels shall strengthen health-education work and the cultivation of relevant professional personnel, establish a system for releasing core information on health knowledge and skills, popularise health science knowledge, and provide the public with scientific and accurate health information.
Medical and health-care institutions, educational institutions, sports institutions, publicity institutions, community-level self-governing organisations, and social organisations shall carry out the promotion and popularisation of health knowledge. Medical and health-care personnel shall provide health education to patients when providing medical and health-care services. News media shall carry out public-interest publicity on health knowledge. The promotion of health knowledge shall be scientific and accurate.
Article 68. The State shall incorporate health education into the national education system. Schools shall implement health education through multiple forms, popularise health knowledge, scientific fitness knowledge, and first-aid knowledge and skills, raise students’ awareness of active disease prevention, cultivate students’ good hygiene habits and healthy behavioural habits, and reduce and address students’ negative health conditions such as myopia and obesity.
Schools shall, as required, offer physical education and health courses, and organise students to conduct radio calisthenics, eye-exercise routines, physical fitness training, and other activities.
Schools shall, as required, be equipped with school doctors and shall establish and improve infirmaries, health rooms, and similar facilities.
Education administration departments of people’s governments at or above the county level shall, as required, incorporate the level of students’ physical fitness and health into school assessment systems.
Article 69. Citizens are the primary persons responsible for their own health; they shall establish and practise the health management concept of taking responsibility for their own health, proactively learn health knowledge, improve health literacy, and strengthen health management. Advocating that family members care for each other and form healthy lifestyles suited to their own and their families’ characteristics.
Citizens shall respect the health rights and interests of others and shall not harm others’ health or the public interests of society.
Article 70. The State shall organise surveys and statistics on residents’ health status, conduct physical fitness monitoring, evaluate health outcomes, and formulate and improve health-related laws, regulations, policies, and plans on the basis of evaluation results.
Article 71. The State shall establish a system for monitoring, surveying, and risk-assessing diseases and health risk factors. People’s governments at or above the county level and their relevant departments shall organise research on health risk factors targeting principal health problems, and formulate comprehensive prevention and control measures.
The State shall strengthen the prevention and control of environmental problems affecting health, organise research on the impact of environmental quality on health, and take measures to prevent and control diseases related to environmental problems.
Article 72. The State shall vigorously conduct patriotic health campaigns, encourage and support the conduct of mass hygiene and health activities such as Patriotic Health Month, rely on and mobilise the public to control and eliminate health risk factors, improve environmental hygiene conditions, and build healthy cities, healthy townships and villages, and healthy communities.
Article 73. The State shall establish a scientific and rigorous system for the supervision and administration of food and drinking-water safety, and raise the level of safety.
Article 74. The State shall establish a nutritional status monitoring system, implement nutrition intervention plans for economically underdeveloped areas and key groups of people, carry out nutrition improvement actions for minors and the elderly, advocate healthy dietary habits, and reduce the risk of diseases caused by unhealthy diets.
Article 75. The State shall develop nationwide fitness undertakings, improve a nationwide fitness public-service system covering both urban and rural areas, strengthen the construction of public sports facilities, organise, support, and conduct nationwide fitness activities, strengthen nationwide fitness guidance services, and popularise scientific fitness knowledge and methods.
The State shall encourage work units to open their sports venues and facilities to the public.
Article 76. The State shall formulate and implement health work plans for minors, women, the elderly, persons with disabilities, and other groups, and shall strengthen health services for key groups of people.
The State shall promote long-term care support and encourage the development of long-term care insurance.
Article 77. The State shall improve the system for the hygiene administration of public places. Health and other administration departments of people’s governments at or above the county level shall strengthen hygiene supervision of public places. Information on the hygiene supervision of public places shall be disclosed to the public in accordance with law.
Operating entities of public places shall establish and improve and rigorously implement hygiene administration systems, ensuring that their operating activities continuously comply with the State’s hygiene requirements for public places.
Article 78. The State shall take measures to reduce the harm of smoking to citizens’ health.
Smoking shall be controlled in public places, and supervision and enforcement shall be strengthened.
Tobacco product packaging shall bear warnings explaining the hazards of smoking.
The sale of tobacco and alcohol to minors is prohibited.
Article 79. Employing units shall create environments and conditions conducive to health for their employees, rigorously implement relevant provisions on occupational safety and health, and actively organise employees to carry out fitness activities, so as to protect employees’ health.
The State shall encourage employing units to carry out health-guidance work for their employees.
The State shall advocate for employing units to regularly organise health check-ups for their employees. Where laws and regulations make provisions on health check-ups, those provisions shall apply.
Chapter VII Funding Security
Article 80. People’s governments at all levels shall faithfully fulfil their responsibilities for developing medical care, health care and health promotion, establish an investment mechanism for medical care, health care and health-promotion undertakings that is commensurate with economic and social development, fiscal conditions, and health indicators, incorporate medical care, health care and health-promotion expenditures into the budgets of their respective levels of government, and use such funds mainly, as prescribed, for the protection of basic medical services, public-health services, and basic medical protection, and for the construction and operational development of government-funded medical and health-care institutions.
Article 81. People’s governments at or above the county level shall strengthen the supervision and administration of funds through budgets, audits, supervision and law enforcement, social supervision, and other means.
Article 82. Basic medical service costs shall be paid mainly by basic medical insurance funds and by individuals. The State shall in accordance with law raise basic medical insurance funds through multiple channels, and shall progressively improve sustainable financing mechanisms for basic medical insurance and adjustment mechanisms for the level of insurance protection.
Citizens have the right and obligation to participate in basic medical insurance in accordance with law. Employing units and employees shall pay employees’ basic medical insurance premiums in accordance with State regulations. Urban and rural residents shall pay urban and rural residents’ basic medical insurance premiums in accordance with regulations.
Article 83. The State shall establish a multi-level medical security system anchored in basic medical insurance, supplemented by commercial health insurance, medical assistance, employees’ mutual medical aid, medical charity services, and other mechanisms.
The State shall encourage the development of commercial health insurance to meet the diverse health protection needs of the people.
The State shall improve the medical assistance system to ensure that eligible persons in difficulty obtain basic medical services.
Article 84. The State shall establish and improve negotiation mechanisms between basic medical insurance management agencies and contracted designated medical and health-care institutions, scientifically and rationally determine payment standards and payment methods for basic medical insurance funds, guide medical and health-care institutions to carry out rational diagnosis and treatment, promote the orderly flow of patients, and improve the efficiency of use of basic medical insurance funds.
Article 85. The scope of basic medical insurance fund payments shall be formulated by the medical security administration department of the State Council and shall solicit the opinions of the health administration department, the TCM administration department, the drug regulatory department, the finance department, and other relevant departments of the State Council.
People’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government may, in accordance with relevant State regulations, supplement the specific items and standards of basic medical insurance fund payments within their administrative regions, and shall report such information to the medical security administration department of the State Council for filing.
The medical security administration department of the State Council shall organise evidence-based medicine and economic assessments of the basic medical insurance medicines catalogue, diagnostic and treatment items, and medical service facility standards incorporated into the scope of payments, and shall solicit opinions from the health administration department, the TCM administration department, the drug regulatory department, the finance department, and other relevant parties of the State Council. The results of such assessments shall serve as a basis for adjusting the scope of basic medical insurance fund payments.
Chapter VIII Supervision and Administration
Article 86. The State shall establish and improve a comprehensive medical and health-care supervision and administration system that combines institutional self-governance, industry self-regulation, government supervision and administration, and social supervision.
Health administration departments of local people’s governments at or above the county level shall implement localised and whole-industry supervision and administration of the medical and health-care sector.
Article 87. Medical security administration departments of people’s governments at or above the county level shall raise the capacity and level of medical security supervision, strengthen supervision and administration over medical service activities and medical costs falling within the scope of basic medical insurance fund payments, and ensure the rational use and security of basic medical insurance funds.
Article 88. People’s governments at or above the county level shall organise health, medical security, drug supervision and administration, development and reform, finance, and other departments to establish communication and consultation mechanisms, strengthen the integration of systems and the coordination of work, and improve the efficiency of use of medical and health-care resources and the level of protection.
Article 89. People’s governments at or above the county level shall regularly report on basic medical care, health care and health-promotion work to the people’s congress at the same level or its standing committee, and accept supervision in accordance with law.
Article 90. Where relevant departments of people’s governments at or above the county level fail to fulfil their responsibilities related to medical care, health care and health promotion, the people’s government at the same level or the relevant department of the people’s government at a higher level shall conduct a regulatory interview (yuetan) with their principal responsible persons.
Where a local people’s government fails to fulfil its responsibilities related to medical care, health care and health promotion, the people’s government at a higher level shall conduct a regulatory interview (yuetan) with its principal responsible persons.
The departments and local people’s governments that are subject to regulatory interviews shall immediately take measures to make rectifications.
The circumstances of the regulatory interviews and the rectifications shall be incorporated into the work assessment and evaluation records of the relevant departments and local people’s governments.
Article 91. Health administration departments of local people’s governments at or above the county level shall establish a performance assessment system for medical and health-care institutions and shall organise assessments of medical and health-care institutions’ service quality, medical technologies, and use of medicines and medical equipment. Assessments shall incorporate the participation of industry organisations and the public. Assessment results shall be made available to the public in an appropriate manner and shall serve as an important basis for evaluating medical and health-care institutions and for health supervision.
Article 92. The State protects citizens’ personal health information and ensures the security of citizens’ personal health information. No organisation or individual shall unlawfully collect, use, process, or transmit citizens’ personal health information, or unlawfully buy, sell, provide, or disclose citizens’ personal health information.
Article 93. Health administration departments and medical security administration departments of people’s governments at or above the county level shall establish a credit records system for medical and health-care institutions, personnel, and others, incorporate such records into the national credit information sharing platform, and implement joint disciplinary measures in accordance with State regulations.
Article 94. Health administration departments of local people’s governments at or above the county level and health supervision institutions entrusted by them shall carry out administrative law enforcement in the areas of medical care and health care and other areas within their administrative regions in accordance with law.
Article 95. Health administration departments of people’s governments at or above the county level shall actively cultivate medical and health-care industry organisations, give play to their role in medical care, health care and health-promotion work, and support their participation in formulating industry management norms and technical standards, and in evaluating, assessing, and reviewing medical and health care.
Article 96. The State shall establish mechanisms for the prevention and handling of medical disputes, properly handle medical disputes, and maintain medical order.
Article 97. The State shall encourage citizens, legal persons, and other organisations to conduct social supervision over medical care, health care and health-promotion work.
Any organisation and individual has the right to complain about or report acts that violate the provisions of this Law to the health administration departments of people’s governments at or above the county level and other relevant departments.
Chapter IX Legal Liability
Article 98. Where local people’s governments at all levels, health administration departments of people’s governments at or above the county level, and other relevant departments violate the provisions of this Law by abusing their powers, neglecting their duties, or engaging in misconduct for personal gain, the directly responsible supervisors and other directly responsible persons shall be given sanctions in accordance with law.
Article 99. Where any person violates the provisions of this Law by engaging in practice without obtaining a medical institution practice licence, the health administration department of the people’s government at or above the county level shall order the cessation of practice activities, confiscate illegal gains, medicines, and medical devices, and impose a fine of five to twenty times the amount of the illegal gains; where the illegal gains are less than CNY 10,000, the fine shall be calculated on the basis of CNY 10,000.
Where any person violates the provisions of this Law by forging, altering, buying, selling, renting out, or lending a medical institution practice licence, the health administration department of the people’s government at or above the county level shall order rectification, confiscate illegal gains, and impose a fine of five to fifteen times the amount of the illegal gains; where the illegal gains are less than CNY 10,000, the fine shall be calculated on the basis of CNY 10,000; in serious cases, the medical institution practice licence shall be revoked.
Article 100. Where any entity commits any of the following acts in violation of the provisions of this Law, the health administration department of the people’s government at or above the county level shall order rectification, confiscate illegal gains, and impose a fine of two to ten times the amount of the illegal gains; where the illegal gains are less than CNY 10,000, the fine shall be calculated on the basis of CNY 10,000; the directly responsible supervisors and other directly responsible persons shall be given sanctions in accordance with law:
(1) a government-funded medical and health-care institution jointly invests with another organisation to establish a medical and health-care institution lacking independent legal-person status;
(2) a medical and health-care institution rents out or contracts out medical departments to outside parties; or
(3) a non-profit medical and health-care institution distributes or covertly distributes profits to investors or founders.
Article 101. Where a medical and health-care institution or other entity violates the provisions of this Law in that its medical information-security system and protective measures are inadequate, resulting in the leakage of medical information, or its medical quality management and medical technology management systems and safety measures are inadequate, the health and other administration departments of the people’s government at or above the county level shall order rectification, issue a warning, and impose a fine of CNY 10,000 to CNY 50,000; in serious cases, the relevant practice activities may be ordered to be suspended, and the directly responsible supervisors and other directly responsible persons shall be held legally liable in accordance with law.
Article 102. Where medical and health-care personnel commit any of the following acts in violation of the provisions of this Law, the health administration department of the people’s government at or above the county level shall impose administrative penalties in accordance with the relevant provisions of laws and administrative regulations concerning the administration of licensed physicians, nurses, and the prevention and handling of medical disputes:
(1) exploiting their position to solicit or unlawfully receive property or seek other improper benefits;
(2) disclosing citizens’ personal health information; or
(3) failing to fulfil their notification obligations as required or violating medical ethics norms in the course of conducting medical research or providing medical and health-care services.
Where persons referred to in the preceding paragraph are personnel of government-funded medical and health-care institutions, sanctions shall be imposed on them in accordance with law.
Article 103. Where a bidder participating in drug procurement tenders violates the provisions of this Law by bidding at a price below cost, or by engaging in bidding through fraud, collusion, abuse of market dominant position, or other means, the medical security administration department of the people’s government at or above the county level shall order rectification and confiscate illegal gains; where the bidder is awarded the contract, the contract award shall be invalid, and a fine of 0.5% to 1% of the value of the contract project shall be imposed, and a fine equal to 5% to 10% of the fine imposed on the entity shall be imposed on the legal representative, principal responsible person, directly responsible supervisors, and other responsible persons; in serious cases, the bidder’s qualification to participate in drug procurement tenders for two to five years shall be cancelled and publicised.
Article 104. Where any person violates the provisions of this Law by fraudulently obtaining basic medical insurance benefits through fraud, forging certification materials, or other means; or where a basic medical insurance management agency, medical institution, pharmaceutical distribution entity, or other entity fraudulently obtains basic medical insurance fund disbursements through fraud, forging certification materials, or other means, the medical security administration department of the people’s government at or above the county level shall impose administrative penalties in accordance with the relevant provisions of the laws and administrative regulations on social insurance.
Article 105. Where any person violates the provisions of this Law by disrupting the order of medical and health-care institutions’ premises, threatening or endangering the personal safety of medical and health-care personnel, infringing upon the personal dignity of medical and health-care personnel, unlawfully collecting, using, processing, or transmitting citizens’ personal health information, or unlawfully buying, selling, providing, or disclosing citizens’ personal health information, and such conduct constitutes a violation of public security administration, public security administration penalties shall be imposed in accordance with law.
Article 106. Where any violation of the provisions of this Law constitutes a crime, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with law; where personal injury or property damage is caused, civil liability shall be borne in accordance with law.
Chapter X Supplementary Provisions
Article 107. The meanings of the following terms used in this Law:
(1) “Major health indicators” refers to per-capita life expectancy, maternal mortality rate, infant mortality rate, and mortality rate of children under five, among others.
(2) “Medical and health-care institutions” refers to primary-level medical and health-care institutions, hospitals, and specialised public-health institutions, among others.
(3) “Primary-level medical and health-care institutions” refers to township health centres, community health service centres (stations), village clinics, infirmaries, out-patient departments, and clinics, among others.
(4) “Specialised public-health institutions” refers to disease prevention and control centres, specialised disease prevention and treatment institutions, health education institutions, emergency-care centres (stations), and blood stations, among others.
(5) “Medical and health-care personnel” refers to practising physicians, practising assistant physicians, registered nurses, pharmacists (pharmaceutical technicians), laboratory technicians, imaging technicians, and rural doctors and other health professionals.
(6) “Essential medicines” refers to medicines that meet the basic medication needs for disease prevention and treatment, are adapted to the current basic national conditions and support capacity, have appropriate dosage forms and reasonable prices, can be secured in supply, and are equitably accessible.
Article 108. Provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government, and prefecture-level cities and autonomous prefectures may, in light of actual conditions, formulate specific measures for the development of medical care, health care and health-promotion undertakings in their localities.
Article 109. Medical care, health care and health-promotion work of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force shall be governed by management measures formulated by the State Council and the Central Military Commission in accordance with this Law.
Article 110. This Law shall enter into force on June 1, 2020.