Cultivating and investing in clinical research in China

Individual institutions such as universities and hospitals alike followed suit and established their own funds. The results are astonishing: the number of scientifi c publications in biomedical literature increased more than six times from 18 416 in 2005 to 115 055 in 2014 (PubMed search for “journal article” in “English” with an affi liation of “China”). However, many more high impact publications are in basic biomedical sciences than in clinical research. China accounts for 20% of the world’s population. The patient volume is enormous. Improved patient care and population health is a huge responsibility and should, therefore, be a high national priority for research. In recognition of its importance, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MOST) and National Health and Family Planning Commission established 22 national clinical research centres (CRCs) in nine disciplines in 2013 and 2014. 2