More than 90% of village clinics in China have their services now covered by basic medical insurance according to China National Health Commission (CNHC).
CNHC head Lei Haichao provided this information at a press conference on the sidelines of the recently concluded annual session of China’s national parliament. According to CNHC data there are more than 600,000 grassroots healthcare institutions in towns, communities and villages nationwide and over 5m health workers are in service in these institutions.
Over the past two years, the ministry of finance has spent approximately CNY900m ($128.6m) to help township-level health centres to upgrade their medical equipment.
China expects that by 2027 the medical resources and services of the county, townships and villages within the jurisdiction of a county will be integrated to bring more quality medical services closer to people’s doorsteps. AI will also be deployed to boost the capacity and capabilities of grassroots medical services.
The per capita government subsidy for basic public health services is expected to increase in 2025 by CNY5 touching CNY99 ($13) per person. The adjustment will translate into further optimised public medical services.