Hospital plan to aid grassroots

The government has pledged to build 2,000 county hospitals and 5,000 township clinics in rural areas within the next three years as part of its healthcare reform, which aims to make medical services more available and affordable at the grassroots.

A total of 29,000 township-level clinics will be built nationwide in the next three years, Premier Wen Jiabao said in his government work report at the ongoing session of the National People's Congress (NPC).

The government will also support the construction of more than 10,000 medical facilities in urban areas, according to the reform plan, which stresses on the need to train more medical practitioners, Minister of Health Chen Zhu said.