Recently, China's National Health and Family Planning Commission issued guidelines to standardise the training of young doctors, following high-income countries' models of residency systems, to ameliorate clinical practice qualities of Chinese doctors.1
Publications from Chinese authors in high-quality medical journals, including The Lancet
, have increased.2
Some medical schools, such as Xiangya (Hunan), have started implementing a 4+4 years medical education, as in the USA; and each year, 50 of their students will be trained in the USA. For a decade, the New Cooperative Medical System has saved countless families from illness related to poverty.
Major progresses have been made in the Chinese medical system and health services; however, a lot of difficulties to overcome remain. First, legislation needs to be strengthened to prevent criminals targeting doctors to guarantee medical staff's safety. Second, China needs to accelerate the pace of opening up its medical industry. Last but not least, management systems of public hospitals, which predominate in China, need urgent reform, and development of private hospitals needs to be encouraged.
Only through persistently bettering the existing health-care system can Chinese medicine really make remarkable progress.
We declare that we have no competing interests.