Development of health technology assessment in China: New challenges

Health technology assessment (HTA) is a field of scientific policy research that adopts multidisciplinary approaches to conduct systematic evaluation of health technologies and inform decision making. Although achievements have been made by HTA activities among academics, providers, and policy makers, development of the field of HTA in China is fragmented and not yet formally integrated in health policy making processes. All stakeholders need to make more efforts to strengthen HTA knowledge translation and facilitate a decision making process that is based on evidence including HTA findings. This article reviews how the field of HTA has developed in China, analyzes what factors have been influencing China's HTA development, and proposes policy recommendations.