China Focus: Average life expectancy of Chinese reaches 79.25 years in 2025: top health official

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The average life expectancy of the Chinese reached 79.25 years in 2025, an increase of 1.32 years from 2020, Lei Haichao, head of China's National Health Commission, said on Saturday at a press conference held on the sidelines of the annual session of the top legislature.

Lei described the past five years as a period of historic progress for China's healthcare sector, with improvements visible on multiple aspects.

He said a policy prioritizing grassroots services has driven a steady rise in visits to primary-level healthcare institutions, which handled 52.6 percent of all medical diagnosis and treatment nationwide in 2025, and more healthcare workers serve both urban and rural communities.

Today, over 90 percent of the population can reach their nearest healthcare facility within a 15-minute walk, he added. By the end of 2025, China had more than 1.1 million medical and healthcare institutions and over 16 million healthcare workers. The expansion of healthcare resources, Lei noted, has helped improve fairness and accessibility of basic medical services for the country's 1.4 billion people.

Looking ahead, he said efforts will focus on strengthening primary-level healthcare services and improving paediatrics, mental health, general practice, rehabilitation nursing, and other services. Mobile medical teams, telemedicine and online consultations would continue to be used to expand public access to healthcare services.

Lei pledged to deepen reforms of the healthcare system and enhance public health security capacity.

China aims to increase the average life expectancy of its people to around 80 years through efforts planned for the 15th Five-Year Plan period from 2026 to 2030, he said.

INTERNATIONAL HEALTH COOPERATION

While safeguarding the health of its own people, China will continue to provide assistance within its capacity to developing countries, Lei said.

He added that China will help countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative improve their health services, with necessary assistance in areas such as technology and personnel.

China will also step up exchanges and cooperation with the international community, promoting traditional Chinese medicine globally and encouraging mutual learning among different traditional medical systems, the official said.

Efforts are also being made to help enrich medicinal plant resources and treatment approaches to better address global public health challenges, he added. ■