President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang called for speeding up the building of primary medical and healthcare systems in China.

They made the remarks in two separate letters to a national conference to honor outstanding staff in the medical, health and family planning sectors on Aug 17, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Five-pillar systems

According to a road map on China’s medical reform during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020) issued by the State Council in January, basic medical and healthcare systems will be established by 2020, covering all urban and rural residents across the country.

The systems will comprise of five major pillars, namely a multitiered diagnosis and treatment system, a modern hospital administration system, a medical security system that covers the entire population, a “streamlined and orderly” medical supply system as well as a regulatory system.

China has already built the world’s largest basic healthcare network, covering 98.8 percent of its population, or 1.34 billion people, according to a report released last month.

The country’s budget for health and medical expenditure this year has reached 1.4 trillion yuan (about $207 billion).

Xi: Doctors should be respected

President Xi, also General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said the party and the central government had attached great importance to the development of the medical and healthcare sector and improvement of public health.

He called on those working in the sector to offer better medical and health services to the people, adding that a healthy social environment that respects doctors and values health should also be fostered.

Premier Li congratulated the 775 individuals and 251 groups honored at the meeting and encouraged them to make more contributions to building China into a health power.

Vice-Premier Liu Yandong attended the meeting.