Bulletin of Semashko National Research Institute of Public HealthBulletin of Semashko National Research Institute of Public Health2415-84102415-8429FSSBI «N.A. Semashko National Research Institute of Public Health»285210.69541/NRIPH.2024.03.024Научная статьяPublic health in Republic of China during the «Nanking decade» (1928—1937)MikhelDmitry V.dmitrymikhel@mail.ruhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2250-1626MikhelIrina V.irinamikhel@yandex.ruhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2916-4653Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences01102024315816227052025Copyright © 2025,2025<p>The establishment of a national health system in the Republic of China during the Nanjing Decade (19281937) is a good example of an attempt to realize ambitious public health plans with scarce resources and medical personnel. Having achieved political unification of the country after years of war and economic devastation, the Nationalist authorities in Nanjing in 1928 established the first Ministry of Health in the country's history, which was later transformed into the National Health Administration. The article shows how a group of medical reformers from the Peking Union Medical College set about establishing the institutional framework for Chinese health care, as well as pioneering the rural health care. It focuses on the main leader of Chinese health care during this period, Dr. J. Heng Liu, as well as the pioneer of rural health care, Dr. C.C.Chen, who acted as the leader of the medical part of the social experiment in Dingxing County.</p>Republic of ChinaKuomintangpublic healthDr. J. Heng LiuDr. C.C. ChenDingxing CountyCentral Health Field StationКитайская РеспубликаГоминьданздравоохранениеЛю Цзюй-хэнЧэнь Чжицюаньуезд ДинсинЦентральная полевая станция здравоохранения[Public health reconstruction under the national government. Chinese medical journal. 1932;46(8):826—834.][Heng Liu J. The Chinese Ministry of health. National medical journal of China. 1929;15(2):135—148.][Heng Liu J. The Ministry of health. Chinese medical journal. 1929;43(4):319—331.][Medicine in China by the China medical commission of the Rockefeller Foundation. New York: University of Chicago press; 1914. 113 p.][Addresses and papers. Dedication ceremonies and medical conference. Peking Union Medical College, September 15—22, 1921. Peking: Peking Union Medical College; 1922. 416 p.][Lim R.K.S., Chen C.C. State medicine. Chinese medical journal. 1937;51(6):781—796.][Hsun-Yuan Yao. The second year of the rural health experiment in Ting Hsien, China. The Milbank Memorial Fund quarterly bulletin. 1932;10(1):53—66.][Chen C.C. Public health in rural reconstruction at Ting Hsien: Fourth annual report of the rural public health experiment in China. The Milbank Memorial Fund quarterly bulletin. 1934;12(4):370—378.][Chen C.C. The rural public health experiment in Ting Hsien, China. The Milbank Memorial Fund quarterly bulletin. 1936;14(1):66—80.][Report of the Health Organization for the period October 1932 to September 1933. Geneva: League of Nations; 1933. 58 p.][Robertson R.C. Public health. The China yearbook 1938. Shanghai: North China daily news; 1939. P.128—141.][Li T.A. Summary report on rural public health practice in China. Chinese medical journal. 1934;48(10):1086—1090.][Huang T.F. The development of health centers (with a report on the work of the health demonstration centre of the C.M.A.Council on public health). Chinese medical journal. 1939;55(6):546—560.]