Elderly residents play table tennis at a park in Beijing on September 1, 2025. Photo: IC

China’s healthcare institutions nationwide handled 10.15 billion medical consultations and treatments in 2024, and Chinese residents’ average life expectancy reached 79.0 years, the statistics released on Tuesday by China’s National Health Commission (NHC) show, Xinhua News Agency reported. 

The total number of medical consultations and treatments at healthcare institutions nationwide increased by 600 million from the previous year. The maternal mortality rate in 2024 dropped to 14.3 per 100,000, and the infant mortality rate fell to 4.0 per thousand, Xinhua reported, citing an interpretation from the NHC.

NHC data shows that China’s total health resources continued to grow steadily. By the end of 2024, China had 1.09 million medical and health institutions, an increase of 22,766 from the previous year. Among them, 38,710 were hospitals, up by 355 from the previous year. The number of health technical personnel reached 13.02 million, an increase of 531,000 (up 4.3 percent), including 9.37 million in hospitals.

official data indicates that China has effectively controlled per-visit medical expenses. In 2024, China’s average hospital stay cost fell to 9,870 yuan ($1,396), down by 4.3 percent from the previous year at current prices and down by 4.5 percent at comparable prices. The average outpatient cost per visit was 361 yuan, down by 0.2 percent at current prices and down by 0.4 percent at comparable prices. 

In 2024, China’s total health expenditure was preliminarily estimated at 9.09 trillion yuan, with government spending accounting for 24.9 percent, social health expenditure 47.6 percent, and individual out-of-pocket spending 27.5 percent. In particular, per capita health expenditure reached 6,454.4 yuan. The total health expenditure accounted for 6.7 percent of China’s GDP in 2024. 

Global Times