The Rockefeller Foundation (RF) was the first private organization to have systematically envisioned and practiced public health as a world system. The RF exerted extensive influence in disseminating medical science, public health practice and policies in the world. It set up similar public health institutions in many countries by working with national and colonial governments, empires of Europe and the United States, and the League of Nations Health Organization. This article focuses on the RF’s role in the development of modern health in China. It situates the discussion in the larger context of RF’s involvement in Asia. The RF made significant achievements in China primarily through the mechanisms of the International Health Board, the China Medical Board, and the extraordinary capabilities of John B. Grant. Drawing on archival data and recent research, this article examines the interactive work between RF officials, Chinese health professionals, and the Chinese government in standardizing medical science education and the training of health professionals by means of establishing Peking Union Medical College and the health demonstration stations. It shows how these programs and institutions ultimately helped shape up the creation of a national health system in China. This study sheds light on the long-term legacy of the RF in China and the implications of state medicine and medical efficiency for current global public health.
Rockefeller Foundation’s Global Health and China’s Modern Health Development