Pediatric surgery of China was established in 1950. Being isolated from the world, China's first-generation pediatric surgeons were mainly self-taught. The technology of pediatric surgery of China practically followed Gross, and the aim of pediatric surgery was similar to that of BAPS, "not to seek a monopoly." Since 1980, after the scientific exchange with Western countries, the clinical results of common pediatric surgical diseases have reached the acceptable level of the world. China is a huge country with poor transportation, one-child family planning, and Chinese traditional medicine, which made certain peculiarities in the practice of paediatric surgery. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.