Ma Xiaowei:
I would like to thank the international media friends for your continuous concern and support for China's medical and health undertakings.
Healthy people are an important symbol of a prosperous nation and a strong country. Since the PRC's founding 70 years ago, the CPC and the government have always paid great attention to medical and health care, and developed the country's basic medical and health care system with a people-oriented philosophy in mind. Since the 18th CPC National Congress in particular, under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, we treat people's health as a strategic priority. We have stepped up efforts to build a healthy China, and embarked on a new journey to develop China's medical and health services.
Chinese people's health have continued to improve- over the past 70 years. The life expectancy increased from 35 years old to 77 years old, the infant mortality rate dropped from 200‰ to 6.1 ‰, and the maternal mortality rate dropped from 1500 in every 100,000 to 18.3 in every 100,000. The main health indicators of the Chinese people all performed better than the average scores of people from middle- and high-income countries. China has addressed the medical and health care of one sixth of the world's population with relatively less investment, and figured out a path with Chinese characteristics for its medical and health undertakings. The achievements mainly cover the following aspects:
First, the medical and health network, which offers people greater access to medical and health services have continuously improved. China established a three-tier network of medical treatment, precaution and health care. It covers urban areas (provinces, municipalities and counties) and rural areas (counties, townships and villages) and makes it possible for all to enjoy basic medical and health care. Private hospitals in the country also developed rapidly. In 2018, beds in private hospitals accounted for over 26% of the total beds in China and there were up to 8.4 million beds in over 990,000 medical and health organizations, there were 12.31 million people working in the healthcare system, and 2.59 doctors and 2.94 nurses to every 1,000 people, exceeding the average level of middle-income countries.
Second, our attention and investment in health care have increased constantly, which has gradually reduced people's economic burden with medical fees. In 2018, China's total health expenditure accounted for 6.6% of its GDP. There was a constant rise in government subsidies for basic medical insurance for urban and rural residents and subsidies per capita for basic public health services. The basic medical insurance system already covers over 1.3 billion people, with the insured rate has stabilized at 95%. In a relatively short time, we built up the world's largest basic medical insurance network. We also cut the proportion of personal health expenditure in total health expenditure to 28.6%, the lowest level since 2000.
Third, we curbed the transmission of major diseases by prioritizing precaution. China implemented a planned immunization system, which brought down the number of people with vaccine-preventable infectious diseases to a very low level. We curbed the transmission of major diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, schistosomiasis and Hepatitis B, and achieved gratifying results in the precaution and treatment of occupational and endemic diseases. We also successfully handled SARS, H7N9 and other major outbreaks while relying on the country's own team and system of addressing public health emergencies.
Fourth, the capacity to offer medical services improved continuously. In 2018, there were over 8.3 billion visits to outpatient and emergency departments, and over 250 million people were discharged from hospitals. We spared no efforts in alleviating poverty by addressing health issues and safeguarding the health of women, children, the elderly, the disabled and the poor, and promoted more equitable health services.
Fifth, we made use of the strengths of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and promoted its traditional aspects and innovation. We strengthened the training of TCM experts, selected and awarded TCM masters, and promoted appropriate TCM techniques and the development of TCM overseas.
Sixth, we expanded our exchanges with the rest of the world on health-related causes and participated in global health governance. China sent 26,000 medical team members to 71 countries, and treated 280 million patients in total. The country also intensified its cooperation with international organizations to fight against Ebola in west Africa, and signed over 160 cooperation agreements on health with international organizations and relevant countries and regions.
Our next step is to continue promoting a healthy China and the high-quality development of medical and health undertakings to serve the people. Thank you.
Xi Yanchun:
Thank you, Mr. Ma Xiaowei. Next, let's give the floor to our media friends. Please identify the news organization you represent before asking your questions. Now, the floor is open for questions.
