Strengthening clinical research and practice in China’s healthcare system: a decade of action via the NEJM pilot initiative

China’s healthcare system has made significant progress in the past 20 years, but disparities between urban and rural areas persist. The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) launched a pilot initiative to address these gaps through four core approaches: translation and dissemination of medical evidence, digital continuing medical education (CME), building research capacity, and fostering global health collaboration. Over the past decade, NEJM’s Chinese-language platform has translated 1,709 high-impact articles, making them accessible to clinicians nationwide. Digital CME initiatives, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, have enabled real-time knowledge sharing, reaching 450,000 physicians. Collaborative training programs have equipped clinicians with essential research skills. These efforts have shown measurable impact, with a sharp increase in original research submissions and publications from China-based authors since 2014. While progress has been made, further focus on knowledge dissemination, equitable access to CME, research capacity building, and global engagement is crucial for advancing China’s healthcare system.