China's medical science and technology made significant progress in the past decade, transforming the country from a drug reverse-engineer to a medicine innovator, according to an official from the National Health Commission.

"China is deeply involved in the global health governance," said Li Bin, deputy head of the commission, at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday. "We have taken our part in building a global health system with a shared future."

Li said China has passed laws related to basic health coverage and laid out the "Healthy China 2030" plan to guide the development of the health sector.

China has strived to build a senior people-friendly society, while keeping the infant mortality rate far below the global average.

China has also accelerated efforts to improve people's access to medical services and medicines, constructing a health-care service system that covers both urban and suburban areas. Ninety percent of families nationwide can access the system and reach the nearest medical point within 15 minutes.

More than 1.36 billion people are covered by basic healthcare and the share of healthcare spendings in people's total spendings averaged as low as 27.7%.

As a result of the developments, China's life expectancy grew from 74.8 years to 78.2 years in the past decade, which is a "historical leap forward," according to Li.