China’s reform and opening-up over the forty years from 1978 to 2018 brought all-round development to the country. Health reform, as a critical sector of the whole reform plan, has been extraordinary times and left an indelible impression.

It had its ups and downs but always ran ahead in a clear direction.

Overall public well-being can’t be realized without people’s health. Health should be a priority of development. China should lead everyone to live a healthy life, improve health services and insurance, cultivate a healthy environment and develop the appropriate industries to build a Healthy China. President Xi Jinping emphasized at the National Hygiene and Health Conference in 2016 that all-round efforts should be made to ensure people’s health and lay a foundation for reaching the Two Centennial Goals and realizing the Chinese nation’s great rejuvenation, which is a clear direction for well-developed health in China.

Four decades have brought us to a transitionpoint, connecting the past and the future. For saluting the past, the people’s historical stories about improvements to the health system will be told by many witnesses of major health events, health policy makers, and leaders of health related scientific and technological programs. And for the future, the stories will become the spirit powering China as it moves ahead with the original aspiration.