Wang Dongjin, vice minister of Labor and Social Security, noted on July 6 that the medical insurance in China has covered a total of 129.15 million people by the end of May 2005, increasing by 14.13 million as against the same period last year.

Speaking at the Annual Conference and Academic Lecture of Medical Insurance Branch under China Social Insurance Association, Wang said that along with the expansion of medical insurance, the revenue of medical fund in the first five months reached 51.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.3 billion yuan.

Wang further noted that the current medical insurance system works smoothly. The revenue and expenditure of medical insurance fund are balanced; people who take part in basic medical insurance have received relevant guarantee; the medical expenses sharing mechanism and medical service competitive mechanism have been established and have begun to function fundamentally; the excessive waste on medical resources and rocketing increase of medical expenses under traditional system have been brought under control.

(People's Daily Online July 8, 2005)