BEIJING, May 8 -- China's basic medical insurance funds, including maternity insurance, saw a total expenditure of over 557.74 billion yuan (around 80.65 billion U.S. dollars) from January to March, up by 21.7 percent year on year, data from the National Healthcare Security Administration showed.

More than 24.76 billion yuan of the expenditure was from the maternity insurance fund, according to the administration.

The income of the fund stood at 910.05 billion yuan, marking a 9.5-percent increase from the same period last year. The balance over the three months showed a steady operation of the funds, the administration said.