Medical Treatment

Medical care and health work have been growing unceasingly. By the end of 2001, there were 17,000 medical and health establishments, including 3,000 hospitals or health stations, 363 sanitation and epidemic prevention setups, 147 health care institutions for women and children, 20 of them being added in 2001. Altogether, there were 218,000 beds in health care establishments of various types. There were 318,000 medical specialists, including 149,000 doctors, 95,000 senior or junior nurses.

The number of sanitation cities in Shandong topped the nationwide list. Along with 87 sanitation cities and county seats at provincial level, there are now eleven state-level sanitation cities: Weihai, Yantai, Laizhou, Binzhou, Tai'an, Jiaozhou, Zibo, Laiwu, Qingdao, Zhaoyuan and Qingzhou.

Much has been done to improve family planning so as to keep to a low population growth rate. According to a sample survey of the population, in 2001, the province had a birthrate of 11.12 percent and a death rate of 6.24 percent, for a natural growth rate of 4.88 percent.

Vitalized Sport

As a province with a strong tradition of competitive sports, athletics has taken a leading place in the nation, showing great strength in such events as track and field, gymnastics, swimming, weightlifting, shooting, soccer, basketball, boat racing, canoeing and martial arts. Athletes from Shandong won two gold medals in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. In the 9th National Games, they won 22 gold medals, for that the province finished in sixth place overall. Shandong has professional soccer teams, Luneng Taishan and Qingdao Beilate. Luneng Taishan won the league championship and the F.A. cup in 1999, the first time the double has been achieved. In 2008, the yacht racing events of the Beijing Olympic Games will be held in the beautiful coastal city of Qingdao.

As a province with health mass sports activities, Shandong has been honored for successive years as advanced sports province in China. There are now 66 advanced sports counties, the most in the nation.

Living Standard

Since the 1980s,both urban and rural residents in Shandong have been free of worry about food and clothing, and people in some regions have become well to do.

In 2001, urban residents had an average governable income of 7,101.1 Yuan, an increase of 9.4 percent over the previous year. Annual consumption expenditure averaged 5,252.4 Yuan for urban residents, a gain of 4.6 percent from the previous year. With the obvious improvement of living quality and standards, people tend to diversify their consumption of top grade products when they choose their clothing, food, daily commodities and means of transportation. The food structure has been bettered with increased consumption of meat, eggs, poultry and aquatic products. People also begin to seek clothing in terms of quality, fashionable style and popular trademarks. In 2001, average expenditure on clothing was 700.3 Yuan for every urban and township resident.

Following the improvement of consumption capability is the radical change in purchasing long-term consumer goods in terms of structure and grade. Now rapidly entering households are such entertainment-related products as video cameras, VCD and DVD; kitchen appliances such as microwave ovens and ventilators; communications tools such as mobile telephones; such vehicles as cars, motorcycles and electrical-powered bicycles.

In 2001,for every 100 households, there were 116.9 color TV sets, 87.9 refrigerators, 90.8 washing machines, 51.0 cameras, 0.3 car, 35.1 motorcycles, 37.0 VCD, 32.0 air-conditioners, 19.6 microwave ovens, 13.4 PCs, 55.3 bath water heaters, and 31.7 mobile telephones.

Farmers' income is steadily rising. In 2001, the average income for a farmer was 2,804.5 Yuan, a 5.5 percent increase over the previous year. The average living consumption expenditure per farmer was 1,905 Yuan, an increase of 7.6 percent. The residential area per rural resident was 24.6 square meters. For every 100 rural households there were 56.3 color TV sets, 17.7 refrigerators, 58.3 telephones, 18.9 tape-recorders, 17.1 washing machines, 155.6 electric fans, 5 cameras and 42.8 motorcycles.