Within recent years, in the course of increasing international exchanges in the field of Health Sciences, many questions on various aspects of its development in China during the past three decades have been asked by visiting colleagues from abroad, particularly on the development and practice of health care in China. It has been felt that since most of the medical publications have been in Chinese, a language inaccessible to the majority of professionals in other countries, a brief review of the clinical and practical aspects of health care in China written in both Chinese and English would be of service in introducing medical practice in China to the medical profession at home and abroad. The present volume is the result of collaborative efforts by specialists in the respective disciplines in clinical medicine of Sichuan Medical College, Chongqing Medical College, Shandong Medical College and Nanjing Medical College. Obviously, such an undertaking entailed the review oflarge quantities of publica­ tions of China and the contributors are to be congratulated for having successfully completed the selection of appropriate materials included in this space-limited volume.