Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang Wednesday called for accelerated public hospital reforms and the establishment of an essential medicine system to provide better health care.

Li, who heads the State Council's leading group on health care reforms, made the remarks at a meeting in Beijing.

The essential medicine system planned by the reforms will allow citizens to buy affordable, effective and safe medicines, Li said. Grassroots medical institutions should also become a citizen's first choice for visiting a doctor, he added.

Further, the reforms should provide for a rational division of responsibilities among major public hospitals and grassroots clinics, Li said, adding that large hospitals should establish a patient-oriented diagnosis and treatment procedure and provide a better environment.

Private capital should also be welcomed to invest and build medical institutions to create a competitive market mechanism, Li said.