China will push ahead with the experiment of basic medical insurance in cities to solve the health care problems of unemployed urban residents, Chinese vice premier Wu Yi said on Tuesday.

Wu Yi, also member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said the pilot program should give residents freedom of choice, take account of different situations in different cities and mainly target serious diseases.

Wu said local governments should allocate the money needed for the program.

The reform of the medical insurance system should be spurred as part of the reform of the overall healthcare system and drug manufacturing. Community medical services should be further improved and traditional Chinese medicine developed, she said.

China launched the pilot program in April to ensure that more urban residents are covered by basic medical insurance.

People --including children-- who are not covered by basic medical insurance for urban employees can be insured against illness through the basic urban resident medical insurance system.

(Xinhua News Agency May 16, 2007)