The Ministry of Labor and Social Security says 15 million Chinese bought medical insurance in 2004.

This has brought the total number of people with medical insurance to 123 million people by the end of last year.

About a quarter of these, nearly 30 million, are retired while the rest are still working.

In addition, over 7 million people bought childbirth insurance in 2004.

The Ministry says it will continue to expand the scale of medical insurance and pay special efforts to fund raising for retired staff members of bankrupted enterprises.
 
(CRI.com February 10, 2005)