Abstract
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) prevalence, related challenges, and culturally acceptable treatments in China are described. Overweight, obesity, T2DM, and the aged population are all increasing, and more attention to T2DM patients is needed. Next steps include improved screening, case finding, and follow-up. At the societal level, enhanced patient management particularly at the primary care level, increased use of diabetes self-management, and better insurance coverage and evaluation of the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine as add-ons to conventional treatments should be considered.