Rural Medical Insurance

Medical insurance subsidies for China's rural residents will increase this year, the National Health and Family Planning Commission said in a circular on January 30.

Under the new rural cooperative medical program, the annual government grant for each rural resident will rise from 320 yuan ($51) to 380 yuan ($61) this year, according to the document.

Rural residents will each pay a 120-yuan ($19) premium in 2015, 30 yuan ($4.78) more than they did previously, bringing the total financing for each person to 500 yuan ($80).

The government will also take measures to make sure the program's reimbursement rate for outpatient and hospitalization expenses stay at around 50 and 75 percent, respectively.

China launched the rural insurance scheme in 2003 in a bid to ensure that the country's vast number of rural residents have access to affordable medical treatment and to reduce illness-induced poverty.

More than 800 million people have joined the new rural cooperative medical program, official figures show.

To reduce risks and ensure fairness, the government will use the fund to buy insurance for those with serious diseases and penalize those who abuse the fund.

Cordially Invited

Journalists from China and abroad are being invited to cover the country's two major political meetings in Beijing in March.

The Third Session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature, will open on March 5.

The Third Session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top political advisory body, will open on March 3.

The general offices of the NPC Standing Committee and the CPPCC National Committee announced on February 1 that a media center for the two meetings will open from February 27 at the Media Center Hotel in Beijing.

Radio Coverage Expands

The Guangzhou Coast Radio Station in south China's Guangdong Province on February 1 launched a maritime information service on a trial basis, covering the Xisha, Zhongsha and Huangyan islands in the South China Sea.

According to the Navigation Guarantee Center of the South China Sea, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Transport, the station will broadcast navigational and meteorological warnings and forecasts in English six times a day, with a radio coverage of around 500 sea miles.

As one of the five Navtex (Navigational Telex) radio stations in China, the Guangzhou facility is in charge of broadcasting maritime safety information to waters that include areas south of the Taiwan Straits and the South China Sea.

Navtex is an international automated system for distributing navigational warnings, weather forecasts and rescue notices to ships. It is also a component of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System.