Premier Li Keqiang has called for full efforts to overcome difficulties in the country’s medical reform, underlining a special focus on public hospitals at the county level.

Li made the remarks in a written instruction to a meeting held on April 4 on the reform of public hospitals at county level.

Li stressed that these hospitals are the main body of China’s medical health service network that covers some 900 million rural residents.

“Full efforts should be made to prevent ‘financing hospitals with drug sales’, innovate management systems and boost medical workers’ professional dedication so as to solve the global conundrum of medical reform with Chinese methods and let every Chinese citizen enjoy basic medical services,” Li said.

Li noted that the country’s medical reform is in a difficult and crucial stage and related departments must go all out to overcome obstacles.

At the meeting, Vice-Premier Liu Yandong urged increasing pilot counties for medical reform to 1,011, effectively covering over half of the country’s counties, or 500 million people.

Liu stressed optimizing the distribution of medical resources, regulating the prices of medicines and improving medical workers’ professional skills, calling for a harmonious doctor-patient relation.

In addition, Liu urged a severe crackdown on illegal medical services and advertisements.