Strategic Mental Health Planning and its Practice in China: Retrospect and Prospect

Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China *correspondence: Bin Xie. Mailing address: 600 South Wanping RD, Shanghai, China. Postcode: 200030. E-Mail: [email protected] As a large country with a population of over 1.3 billion people, China has been widely recognized for its roles in economic development and for its participation in global governance. However, China’s efforts in domestic social governance receive both praise and blame. On one hand, the management of a large country that has 18% of the world population, is worth 15.5% of the world economic gross, and is made up of 56 ethnic groups would be a serious challenge to any government or social organization. In the globalization and internet age there is no international experience that can be entirely replicated. China possesses the quality of trial and error from policy design to practice and exploration. However, if China’s reforms in the development of social governance are successful, the immediate and long-term effects are both likely to be significantly enlarged. What adds to the complexity is that there are larger economic, social, and cultural gaps between the different regions within China than there are even between China and other countries at a similar economic level. These factors result in the need for a comprehensive design, omni-directional design, and multi-level testing before national policy adjustment, reform or implementation. The so-called “ideal” or “instructive” paradigm on the international stage could possibly take root in the soil of reality or could likely survive.