End of life in mainland China

China is ranked as the 71st of 80 countries in the Quality of Death Index 2015. The concept of palliative care was introduced into China in 1988. However, the adoption and the development of palliative care has been slow. The hospice and palliative care services are mainly concentrated in Chinese major cities, while such services are lacking in other regions. The progress of palliative care in China addresses challenges such as inadequate resources for education and training; use and availability of opioids and lack of funding for establishing palliative care teams, etc. The aim of current study is to explore the development of palliative care in mainland China.