Real-World Data for Healthcare Research in China: Call for Actions

•Many new data sources have emerged in response to the increasing demand for real-world evidence to support healthcare decision making in China. Nevertheless, public information regarding these data sources is limited. The existing healthcare real-world data sources have not been systematically evaluated for the purposes of epidemiology, health economics, and outcomes research.•Through a comprehensive evaluation of the major secondary healthcare databases in China, the current study found that despite the large number of healthcare databases, few could be directly used in epidemiology, health economics, and outcomes research due to limited data access and suboptimal data quality (eg, lack of longitudinal follow up). In contrast, these databases generally have large sample sizes and have the potential to expand the data through chart reviews or prospective data collection, which presents opportunities to further improve real-world data in China.•Researchers and sponsors should carefully evaluate the feasibility of using a secondary database for their research. To efficiently use these databases to generate real-world evidence, 2 fundamental issues need to be addressed—data quality and data access.