Is China's healthcare system good?

Last year, my friend Maya was rushed to a top-tier hospital in Shanghai with acute cholecystitis. She braced herself for “sky-high bills” and “endless waits,” but ended up paying less than $500 (covering tests, surgery, and a three-day stay). She was discharged smoothly the day after her operation. “This would cost at least $30,000 in the U.S., and I might not even get a surgery slot,” Maya exclaimed. Her astonishment sparked my systematic observation of China's healthcare standards—what truths lie behind this system often labeled “cheap but questionable in quality”?

I. Why Are Prices So “Down-to-Earth”? Three Underlying Logics

China's healthcare “high cost-effectiveness” isn't achieved by compromising quality, but through a sophisticated system of cost control and resource allocation.

First, government-led “universal investment.” China prioritizes public health spending: in 2022, government funding accounted for roughly 30% of total national healthcare expenditure (compared to only about 24% in the U.S., where per capita healthcare spending is seven times higher than China's). This investment tilts toward primary care—98% of community health centers and township hospitals nationwide have achieved standardized construction, keeping 80% of common illnesses treated at the grassroots level and preventing the “siphon effect” of large hospitals from driving up costs.

Second, the “price-cutting magic” of volume-based procurement and medical insurance negotiations. Over the past five years, China's national centralized volume-based drug procurement has reduced prices for over 1,000 commonly used drugs by an average of more than 50%. High-value medical consumables (such as cardiac stents) have seen their average price drop from 13,000 yuan to 700 yuan. Medical insurance negotiations functioned like a “national group purchase”: During 2022 negotiations, the price of nusinersen injection for treating spinal muscular atrophy plummeted from ¥700,000 per dose to ¥33,000 and was directly included in medical insurance coverage. This “volume-for-price” model created a win-win-win scenario for patients, pharmaceutical companies, and medical insurance providers.

Third, cost reduction and efficiency gains within the domestic industrial chain. China has become the world's second-largest medical device market. United Imaging Healthcare's high-end MRI equipment matches the performance of GE and Siemens products but costs 30% less. Mindray Medical's patient monitors hold a 20% global market share, with economies of scale diluting R&D costs. The rise of domestic innovative pharmaceutical companies like BeiGene and Hengrui Medicine has broken the impasse of “only imported anti-cancer drugs being available.” For the same PD-1 inhibitor, the annual treatment cost for domestically produced drugs is approximately 40,000 yuan, just one-third of the price of imported drugs.

II. Technological Advancement: The Breakthrough from “Catching Up” to “Keeping Pace”

Low cost does not equate to inferior technology. China's healthcare sector has established unique strengths across multiple domains, even leading globally in certain cutting-edge areas.

First, the transformative impact of “digital healthcare.” China boasts the world's largest 5G network and the most extensive user base for internet-based medical services. In 2021, Peking Union Medical College Hospital performed a remote liver resection surgery for a Xinjiang patient via 5G technology with only 0.3 seconds of latency. AI-assisted diagnostic systems achieved 97% accuracy in lung nodule screening—equivalent to a radiologist with 10 years of experience. During the pandemic, Wuhan's Huoshenshan Hospital deployed a “cloud consultation” platform connecting over 2,000 national experts, whose “pooled wisdom” efficiency astonished European and American counterparts.

Second, breakthroughs in specialized fields. In cancer treatment, China ranks second globally in CAR-T cell therapy development. Fosun Kite's Axicabtagene Ciloleucel injection, approved for lymphoma treatment, costs just one-fifth of comparable U.S. products. In cardiac surgery, Fuwai Hospital performs over 15,000 heart procedures annually, with a mortality rate below 1% for minimally invasive bypass surgery—on par with international leaders like the Cleveland Clinic. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has also gained global recognition through modernization: acupuncture is now included in the WHO's International Classification of Diseases, and the efficacy of TCM compound formulations in cancer adjuvant therapy has been validated by multiple international clinical trials.

Third, “skilled practitioners” forged by “real-world experience.” China handles over 8 billion outpatient visits annually (compared to approximately 1.2 billion in the U.S.), enabling physicians to accumulate expertise in managing rare cases through massive clinical exposure. Take neurosurgery as an example: Beijing Tiantan Hospital performs over 15,000 surgeries yearly, with its speed and precision in treating complex cerebral aneurysms described by the European Association of Neurosurgeons as “textbook-level.”

III. The “Chinese Solution” Behind Success Rates: Data Speaks for Itself

The core metric for evaluating medical standards is treatment efficacy. Multiple international studies confirm that China's success rates in critical disease areas now rank among the world's top tier.

A 2022 Lancet analysis covering 195 countries revealed that China's cardiovascular disease treatment success rate (30-day mortality for acute myocardial infarction) dropped from 15% in 2000 to 4.5% in 2020, approaching Germany's rate (4.3%). In organ transplantation, China's one-year liver transplant survival rate reaches 90% (compared to 88% in the U.S.), while its five-year kidney transplant survival rate exceeds 85%, matching Japan's standards. During the COVID-19 pandemic, China's mortality rate for severe cases was approximately 1.4% (compared to the global average of about 3.5%), attributed to its early detection and intervention prevention system and enhanced critical care capabilities.

Conclusion: China's Underrated Healthcare System Holds Promising Prospects

From Maya's experience to globally authoritative data, the true picture of China's healthcare system is becoming increasingly clear: it is not synonymous with “cheap and low-quality,” but has forged a unique path of “high cost-effectiveness + high standards” through institutional innovation, technological breakthroughs, and economies of scale. For foreigners, it offers not only affordable medical services but also treatments for major diseases like cancer and cardiovascular conditions that match—or even surpass—the warmth and quality of international top-tier care.

Of course, China's healthcare system still has room for improvement—issues like regional resource disparities and shortages of high-end talent remain to be addressed. But as Maya said upon discharge: “If I had known earlier that Chinese healthcare is both affordable and reliable, I might have come years ago.” As the world reassesses China's healthcare, it sees not just “price advantages,” but the growth story of a medical system evolving from “catching up” to “leading the way.”

Document dated 2025-11-07 10:23 Modify