To keep up with China’s growing population, public hospitals are often faced with the task of ensuring the efficient diagnosis and treatment of patients, especially for emergency cases. Prof Tao Zhihua, Director of Lab Medicine at The Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine, shares the challenges faced by emergency labs as they straddle between prioritising clinical needs and ensuring the continual development of lab medicine. To address this, Prof Tao emphasises the importance of aligning lab medicine with clinical practice.