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China pledges to expand rural medicare system

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-03-05 10:15

China's rural medical care system will cover more than 80 percent counties, said Premier Wen Jiabao at the opening meeting of the Fifth Session of the Tenth National People's Congress (NPC) on Monday.

"The trial area of the new type of rural cooperative medical care system will be expanded this year to cover over 80 percent of all counties, county-level cities and city districts in China. Areas possessing the proper conditions may expand the trial faster than others," said Wen in the government work report delivered to nearly 3,000 NPC deputies at the annual session of the top legislature.

The allocations from the central government budget to subsidize this trial will amount to 10.1 billion yuan (1.3 billion U.S. dollars) this year, a 5.8 billion yuan (750 million U.S.dollars) year-on-year increase, according to the government work report.