[Sounding the call for functional cure of hepatitis B and opening a new era of combination therapy].

Functional cure (i.e., clinical cure) of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is a core research objective in the field of hepatology. With the revision of the Expert opinions on the technical guiding Principles for clinical trials of drugs in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus infection, this article concisely reviews the evolving concept of functional cure for hepatitis B, research progress on the dynamic trajectories and threshold of key serological markers (such as HBsAg/anti-HBs), strategies for safety evaluation of treatment discontinuation, and the importance of building a collaborative innovation ecosystem involving scientific research, industry, healthcare, policy, and societal forces. Through multidimensional technological breakthroughs and interdisciplinary collaboration, the functional cure rate of chronic hepatitis B infection is expected to improve significantly over the next 5-10 years, laying the foundation for achieving the World Health Organization (WHO)'s goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.