China Medical News

Chinese health authorities have completed another round of bulk purchases of medical supplies, a move aimed at lowering costs for hospitals and patients across the country. The National Healthcare Security Administration on Wednesday announced the results of its sixth national bulk procurement program for high-value medical consumables. The latest round covered 12 types of devices, including drug-coated balloons and urological intervention products. A total of 440 products from 202 manufacturers were selected for procurement. Health officials said the bulk-buying scheme successfully included major suppliers that hospitals rely on, ensuring a diverse and stable supply of the selected medical devices.

To date, the government's bulk procurement program has expanded to cover 142 types of medical consumables across nine major categories, spanning clinical fields such as cardiology, orthopedics, peripheral vascular surgery, ophthalmology, otolaryngology and urology. Patients are expected to begin accessing the latest batch of lower-priced devices around May 2026, according to the administration. China has regularly used centralized procurement to negotiate lower prices for medical equipment and drugs, part of broader efforts to make healthcare more affordable. (Source: Xinhua)

China will accelerate reforms to allow family members to use funds from the personal accounts of basic employee healthcare insurance across provincial regions, authorities said on Friday. The move, announced by the National Healthcare Security Administration and the Ministry of Finance, aims to further reduce people's medical expenses and improve the efficiency of healthcare fund management.

Under the new policy, holders of employee insurance may use the balance in their personal accounts to pay for medical expenses of their parents, spouses, children, siblings, grandparents, and grandchildren, even if they reside in different provinces. These funds can cover costs for treatments at designated medical institutions and purchases at retail pharmacies, as well as personal contributions toward basic medical insurance or long-term care insurance plans.

The administration said that regional authorities have already piloted the fund-sharing mechanism in recent years. Over the past five years, a total of 780 million such transactions involving over 100 billion yuan ($14.3 billion) have been processed, it said. (Source: China Daily)

China's health literacy level climbed to 33.69% in 2025 — an increase of 1.82 percentage points from the previous year — maintaining a steady upward trend in recent years, according to the National Health Commission. The rate stood at 36.68% among urban residents, compared with 30.58% for those in rural areas. Meanwhile, the gap in health literacy between eastern, central, and western regions of the nation has narrowed. The findings are based on survey data collected from about 70,500 questionnaires completed by residents aged 15 to 69 across the country. (Source: China Daily)

China released its fourth catalog of brand-name drugs on Sunday, aiming to foster the development of generic alternatives to address unmet clinical needs, according to the National Health Commission. The list, jointly issued by the commission and three other government bodies, includes 21 branded medicines in fields such as oncology, neurology, assisted reproduction and diagnostic imaging.

The selected drugs prioritize those with novel targets and mechanisms, such as difelikefalin, a medication used to relieve moderate to severe itching in hemodialysis patients with chronic kidney disease, and four radiopharmaceutical therapies that are not yet available domestically. The list also highlights internationally recommended first-line treatments, such as the insomnia medication suvorexant, which aids sleep onset and maintenance while minimizing daytime drowsiness and fatigue.

In support of the national strategy to encourage births, the catalog includes advanced reproductive health products, including gel and suppository formulations designed to reduce redness, swelling, pain and other adverse reactions commonly associated with long-term injectable therapies during in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer cycles.

Furthermore, emphasis is placed on medicines with established clinical use in China. For example, deflazacort, a treatment for the rare genetic disorder Duchenne muscular dystrophy, is included.

Since 2019, China has released four such catalogs, each aimed at accelerating the development of high-quality, affordable generic alternatives to original brand-name drugs. (Source: China Daily)