China's tiered diagnosis, treatment system to make healthcare more accessible, convenient: official

China is moving faster to develop a tiered diagnosis and treatment system, which will make healthcare more accessible and convenient for the public, according to a press briefing by the National Health Commission on Monday.

The Chinese government has rolled out a set of measures to speed up the development of a tiered diagnosis and treatment system.

The measures, recently released by the State Council, focus on encouraging people to seek initial diagnosis at grassroots-level medical institutions, especially for common and chronic diseases, while directing top-tier hospitals to focus on treating severe, critical and complex cases.

Under the measures, expert outpatient services will be extended to local medical centers to attract more patients, with higher-level hospitals providing support to enhance the service capacity of grassroots healthcare institutions.

The measures also include improving the quality and effectiveness of family doctor contract services.

To facilitate patient referrals, medical institutions will set up more referral centers and improve referral rules, while promoting the integration of medical treatment, operation and information management within tightly knit medical consortia.

"We will work with relevant departments to implement government-subsidy policies for medical and healthcare institutions that are covered by area-based health planning in accordance with regulations, improve a remuneration system that meets the requirements in development of tightly knit medical consortia, timely include eligible community-level medical and healthcare institutions in medical insurance management, and optimize policies of the basic medical insurance scheme such as differential payments and medical service prices, so as to provide stronger guarantees for the tiered diagnosis and treatment system," said Zheng Zhe, deputy head of the National Health Commission, at the press conference on the measures.

The construction of China's tiered diagnosis and treatment system is gradually shifting from the foundation-laying stage to the stage of comprehensive improvement in quality and efficiency, with one highlight being increased accessibility of medical and health services, according to the National Health Commission.

More than 1.1 million medical and healthcare institutions are covering both urban and rural areas in China, and over 90 percent of the residents can reach the nearest medical service point within 15 minutes, said the commission.

China's tiered diagnosis, treatment system to make healthcare more accessible, convenient: official

China's tiered diagnosis, treatment system to make healthcare more accessible, convenient: official

Flowers with novel appearances drew strong interest from visitors at this year's Hortiflorexpo IPM Beijing, which ran from April 10 to 12.

With more Chinese consumers seeking products that offer emotional value, expo visitors were noticing not only traditional, beautiful flowers, but also those newer, more distinctive varieties.

Among the many blooms on display, those featuring widely recognized icons stood out as especially eye catching.

"This is the Psychopsis papilio, also known as 'Monkey King'. You can see that its flower has three tendrils, which vividly resembles the pheasant feathers worn by Monkey King," said Zha Niyi, an exhibitor, introducing the flower commonly known as the butterfly orchid.

Monkey King, or Sun Wukong, is from a classic Chinese novel, Journey to the West, written by Wu Cheng'en during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Monkey King has stood as one of the most iconic symbols of Chinese culture, embodying generations of Chinese people's imagination of a hero.

This growing consumer interest is also evident in the flowers' sales volumes. In 2025, China’s fresh-cut flower exports surged by over 40 percent, surpassing 200 million U.S. dollars for the first time. Over the past five years, the country's total flower exports have exceeded two billion U.S. dollars.

"This demonstrates that China's flower industry has a solid export base and strong production capacity with the approach of high-quality development," said Zhang Li, deputy director of the Market Circulation Branch of the China Flower Association.

As Chinese consumers become more willing to pay for experiences that generate positive emotions, visitors at the exhibition were increasingly drawn to flowers with cute names and auspicious meanings.

Consumers' growing desire for emotional fulfillment is also driving the wider development in the flower-consumption market. "A single flower can give rise to an entire industry and a whole sector," said Wang Caiyun, president of the Osmanthus Branch of the China Flower Association.

China has grown into the world's largest flower producer, a major consumer, and a leading trading country. Its flower economy now delivers annual output worth more than 520 billion yuan (about 76.16 billion U.S. dollars), driving employment and income growth for more than 220,000 business entities.

Novel flowers catch eyes at Hortiflorexpo IPM Beijing