Primary care institutions in China: community health centres, township health centres, village clinics and family doctors

A Xinhua report on the gov.cn English site, updated July 26, 2024, says community-level medical and healthcare institutions include township health centers, village clinics, and community health centers.

Which institutions count as primary care

The report says that, according to the National Health Commission, these providers typically handle over half of the country's diagnoses and medical treatments.

A guide on the Shanghai government English site, dated October 29, 2024, says Level 1 hospitals, such as community health service centers, offer basic medical services like vaccinations and wound care.

A second Xinhua report on the gov.cn English site, updated March 20, 2024, says primary-level medical institutions, including community health centers and township and village clinics, now handle 52 percent of the country's total medical visits, a National Health Commission official said.

What the national documents ask of primary-level institutions

That report says the official said the tiered medical system aims to classify diseases according to their priority and difficulty of treatment as a reference for medical institutions at different levels to treat different diseases.

A China Daily report on the National Health Commission's English site, updated 2026-04-10, says China plans to accelerate the establishment of a tiered healthcare delivery system, focusing on strengthening primary-level medical capacity to manage common and chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes, according to a document released by the General Office of the State Council.

The report says the document calls for the development of closely integrated medical consortia linking top-tier hospitals with grassroots clinics.

The report says secondary hospitals are expected to enhance their capacity to treat common diseases and serve as a bridge between community clinics and tertiary hospitals, which will focus on acute and complex conditions.

The report says it also calls for streamlining referral procedures between different tiers of hospitals and improving insurance reimbursement policies.

Reported use and reach

A Xinhua report on the National Health Commission's English site, updated 2026-09-02, says the government is promoting a tiered healthcare system, and the number and share of visits to primary healthcare facilities continued to rise in 2025.

The report says more than 90 percent of residents can now reach a nearby healthcare facility within 15 minutes.

Family doctor contract services

A Xinhua report on the National Health Commission's English site, updated 2026-08-26, says the National Health Commission, the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration recently issued a circular outlining measures to further deepen and expand family doctor contract services.

The report says all physicians in the clinical categories of internal medicine and pediatrics, as well as traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, working in primary-level healthcare institutions, should by the end of 2026 serve as family doctors and provide contract services.

The report says that by the end of 2027, doctors from secondary and tertiary hospitals who have been assigned to primary healthcare institutions for more than one year should, in principle, also participate in such services.

The report says the circular calls for the orderly advancement of a family doctor first-contact responsibility system, under which contracted residents will be given priority access to consultations with their designated family doctors at primary healthcare institutions.

The report says that if a patient's condition exceeds the professional scope of a family doctor, the doctor should, with the patient's consent, first refer the patient to another specialist within the same institution.

The report says that when referral to a higher-level hospital is necessary, family doctors should make use of reserved appointment slots, hospital beds and fast-track referral channels available through closely integrated medical alliances.

The report says China launched family doctor contract services in 200 cities nationwide in 2016.

Questions people ask

Which institutions does the report count as community-level?

Who is expected to serve as family doctors under the 2026 circular?

How does the circular describe referral to a higher-level hospital?

Sources

Each source above was read on the date shown. This page is an unofficial summary of general administrative information. It is not published by the bodies named above, and it is not medical advice. If it differs from the official pages, the official pages prevail, and figures and rules may change after the check date.