The public medical insurance system on the Chinese mainland now covers over 1.25 billion people, or about 93 percent of the mainland's total population.

"The Chinese mainland's rural cooperative medical system has provided 835 million people with health care, while another 421 million are covered by basic medical insurance systems for urban dwellers," said Zhang Zongjiu, Director of the Department of Medical Service Supervision of the Ministry of Health, on September 4.

In the first half of 2011, the Chinese Government spent more than 245 billion yuan ($38.4 billion) on health care, up 61.4 percent year-on-year, according to a report submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, in late August.