In a cyber-poll conducted in 2016, "building a nationwide healthcare services network" became the topic of most concern, with as many as 10.98 million votes.

Current conditions don't enable real-time settling of accounts for healthcare services in different places. This means that an individual's healthcare welfare is locally confined. But 2017 marks the beginning of reform in this regard. On March 24, a national network system for healthcare services accounting was put into operation.

According to the data from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China, as of November 15, as many as 7,801 medical institutions and 90 percent of A-level hospitals across the country have joined the national unified accounting network. Both urban and rural residents can enjoy medical care services outside their hometowns and claim reimbursement of a certain proportion of the costs.

The reform is not easy as it requires the establishment of a sound system to deal precisely with complicated information related to over one billion people.

The mismatch between the varying level of medical care services across the country and people's growing needs for better healthcare services presents a real difficulty. In particular, an increasing number of patients from rural areas and small cities would like to seek better treatment in large cities. The effective solution is to improve community-level healthcare services, strengthen the ranks of general medical practitioners and ensure everyone can enjoy sound healthcare services no matter where they live.

(This is an edited excerpt of an article published in Oriental Outlook on December 21)