Privatisation of Health Care in Transitional China : A Study of Private Clinics at the County Level

Abstract: The thesis examines the privatisation of China's health care since the 1980s, focusingon the privatisation of primary health care at the county level. The research choosesprivate clinics as research objects, includes a brief historical description of privatehealth care evolution and the existing health care system in China; based on theempirical data collected in the field work, it provides a current picture of private clinicand its privatisation process in a Chinese city, discusses the problems in privatemedical practice and challenges private clinic faces, and the influence of privatisationon health sector performance.The thesis notes the privatisation of primary health care by private clinics supplies analternative way for health care services. It plays a significant role in compensatingpublic system and promotes more equal health access, although the radicalprivatisation of all health sectors undermines the accessibility and quality of healthservices in general. Currently the private health sector in China is still small and yet toform a mature market, and there are multiple challenges for its further development,but it can be expected that the private sector in the health care area will expand rapidly,and China could hopefully find a suitable way of public/private mix under the newhealth reform.