Abstract: Objectives To review and summarize the development of China's medical schools, existing issues and put forward policy suggestions based on the perspective of domestic and international comparison. Methods Descriptive analysis and literature review were implemented. Results After 150 years' development, the number of China's medical schools reached 192 in 2020. However, there is still a serious shortage of medical schools if taking into account of the large population in the country. The number of medical schools per 10 million persons in China was only about one third of the world average level. The teaching quality of some medical colleges is not satisfactory, and the quantity of highly qualified medical colleges is insufficient. Some other weakness also exist, including large scale of enrollment per school, mal-distribution of medical schools in different regions and lack of a professional administration entity at the national level. Conclusions China should improve the top-level design and making a national development plan for construction and development of medical schools. Multiple approaches should be taken to steadily increase the number of medical schools. A national organization for professional administration should be established to improve the macro management of medical schools. Finally, Chinese government should play a crucial role in facilitating the construction of medical schools in developing areas.

Key words: Medical school, Medical education, China, Retrospective, Prospects