The highest-profile national health conference in two decades was held on August 19-20, attended by President Xi Jinping and colleagues from the Communist Party Politburo, the National Peoples’ Congress (NPC) and the Procuratorate. It marks an important milestone in the protection of the people’s health. The health system has been criticized as inaccessible and unaffordable for vast numbers of people. President Xi Jinping called for full protection of the public’s health and underlined the need to make public health a central part of the country’s development strategy. Not addressing critical health issues risked undermining economic development and social stability, Xi said. Eric Chong, President of the Hong Kong Institute of Asclepius Hospital Management, said he expected Xi would shift the focus of medical reform from treating illnesses to preventing them. Also, most patients still headed to big hospitals in cities because of the lack of confidence in local facilities. China needs to redistribute medical resources so more more patients can be treated at a local level.