3月26日早间英文播报：Xi calls for continuous reform to healthcare system

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President Xi Jinping, also generalsecretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of theCentral Military Commission, learns about the reform of local medical andhealthcare system at Shaxian General Hospital in Shaxian district of Sanmingcity, Fujian province, on March 23, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]

President Xi Jinping has called forcontinuous reform to the medical and healthcare system to better protectpeople's well-being, saying, "Health is the most important indicator ofpeople's happy life."

Xi made the remark when inspecting ahospital in Sanming, Fujian province, on Tuesday. Reform of the healthcaresystem, rural vitalization and forestry reform were highlighted during thesecond day of his inspection tour in Fujian, which started on Monday.

At Shaxian General Hospital, Xi learnedabout local efforts to reform the medical and healthcare system as well as howthe reforms have benefited local people. He urged continuous efforts to improvehealthcare services, building on existing achievements.

The hospital has jurisdiction over 12grassroots branch hospitals and 128 village health clinic extensions. Itsestablishment was also one of the measures to reform the local medical andhealth system.

Xi has paid close attention to the progressof the country's medical reform. At a key meeting of the central leading groupfor deepening overall reform in March 2017, Xi praised Sanming's experience inmedical reform, urging promotion of its practices nationwide.

During the inspection, Xi mentionedunbalanced development in the country's health sector. He also underlined theneed to continue to intensify reforms of the country's medical and healthcaresystem and increase medical resources in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25)period.

"The philosophy of putting people'slives first and foremost must be upheld," he added.

While visiting a rural property rightstransaction center in Sanming's Shaxian district, Xi stressed respect forpeople's pioneering spirit in reforms, saying the people are the real heroes.

He hailed the active efforts made in thedistrict in collective forest tenure reform, and said Sanming is an importantbirthplace of such reforms.

In the past, Chinese farmers were excludedfrom collectively owned forestry and shared few timber revenues. As a result,they lacked the incentives to protect forests, and timber theft was rampant.

To solve those problems, Fujian launched areform to decentralize the collective forest tenure system in favor ofindividual or household management in 2003. The move is considered the start ofChina's new round of forest tenure reform. It echoed Xi's instruction todevelop forestry as an industry while protecting the environment when he workedin Fujian between 1985 and 2002.

Local authorities have explored a number ofreform measures, including taking steps to encourage farmers to transfer theirtimberland to forest cooperatives and issuing more loans to forestry businessesto solve their financial problems.

The total output value of forestry reached114.6 billion yuan ($17.6 billion) in 2019 in Sanming. The city's forestcoverage is expected to exceed 80 percent in 2020, local authorities said.

Xi told officials that for major reforms,trials should be conducted first to gain experience before such reforms arepromoted. The methodology of "crossing the river by feeling thestones" is relevant for institutional reforms and will continue to work,he added.

Xi also went to Yubang, a village famousfor Shaxian delicacies such as pork wonton, peanut sauce noodles and over 100other dishes, and called on local people to turn the restaurant business into apillar industry to increase farmers' incomes and promote rural vitalization.

Find more audio news on the China Dailyapp.

记者：曹德胜

播报：JocelynEikenburg

音频编辑：万月英

原文链接：

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202103/25/WS605bc725a31024ad0bab1652_1.html