HPV vaccines in China: A narrative review

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common malignancy among women worldwide, with persistent high-risk HPV infection as its necessary cause. The World Health Organization (WHO) has set the “90-70-90” targets for 2030 to accelerate cervical cancer elimination. Given China’s large population, progress in vaccine accessibility, coverage, and long-term protection will have a major impact on global control efforts. Despite advances in vaccine development, approval, and policy innovation, challenges remain, including uneven coverage, limited long-term follow-up, low male vaccination uptake, and financial sustainability. This review synthesizes evidence on vaccine development, clinical evaluation landscape, policy practice, and HPV vaccination coverage in China to identify key barriers to implementation and outline strategic directions for achieving sustainable high coverage. It aims to inform the design of a unified national immunization program in China and provide lessons for cervical cancer prevention in other low- and middle-income countries.