China's healthcare reform tasks completed: report

BEIJING - Missions set in a three-year plan for China's healthcare reform program in the 2009-11 period have been completed on schedule, according to a new official report.

The report said the reform efforts have brought about progress toward giving all the country's citizens access to basic medical services.

It was recently submitted to the State Council by the healthcare reform office under the State Council, according to a statement issued by the office on Monday.

Between 2009 and 2011, China's central government invested 450.6 billion yuan ($70.79 billion) in the country's medical care services, the report said.

It also promised more government investment in this field in the 12th Five Year Plan period (2011-15).

The three-year plan missions included establishment of a basic medical care insurance system, implementation of the basic drug system and improvement of grass-roots medical services.

By the end of 2011, over 95 percent of the country's population was covered by basic medical care insurance programs designed for employees, urban residents and rural residents, according to the report.

The annual government subsidy for urban and rural residents' insurance was increased from 80 yuan per person in 2008 to 200 yuan in 2011, and the sum will be raised to 240 yuan this year, its authors found.

Central government invested 63 billion yuan between 2009 and 2011 in the construction and improvement of 33,000 hospitals at grass-roots levels.

Furthermore, reform programs have been launched in over 2,000 public hospitals across the country, the report noted.