Governing for sustainable health: institutional pathways in China's sport and health policy (1949–present)

This path-dependent layering-from campaign rhetoric to target-based planning to data-enabled governance-demonstrates how embedding new health objectives within entrenched institutional routines, while incrementally integrating cross-sectoral data systems, can foster sustainable policy adaptation. These insights offer a practical and transferable model for other middle-income countries pursuing scalable, evidence-informed health governance.