China's gov. declares gene sequencing a key component of 5yr plan

The Chinese government has declared precision medicine, the use of gene sequencing to customise healthcare delivery, as a key part of the country's Five-Year Plan for the 2016-20 period, with the government  expecting to spend 20 billion yuan to support research. China is already one of the largest purchasers of gene sequencers, with BGI Genomics buying 128 Illumina machines, a trend that shows little sign of slowing with the government's renewed focus on precision medicine. In the US, President Obama's Precision Medicine Imitative was a key highlight of his second term, promising a budget of $215m in 2016 to build a national genome register. 

(Beijing) – The Chinese government is powering a homegrown "precision medicine" initiative aimed at improving patient treatment for chronic ailments such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.

Officials have declared precision medicine – a customized form of health care based on genome-sequencing technology – as one of the nation's foremost science and technology projects under the 13th Five-Year Plan for the 2016-20 period.