Forensic Medicine in China

Although China has a long history of forensic medicine, with the first standard text published in 1247, modern practices appeared only in the 1930s under Professor Lin Ji. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, there was a period of rapid development, which was later interrupted by the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976. Today, China has about 10,000 experts in forensic medicine organized within the separate agencies of police, prosecutor's offices, courts, universities, and the Justice Ministry. Eight medical colleges, the Institute of Forensic Sciences of the Ministry of Justice in Shanghai which publishes the Journal of Forensic Medicine, and the Forensic Medicine Association of China which publishes the Chinese Journal of Forensic Medicine are key organizations.