Chinese vice premier stresses summer grain production, medical security

TAIYUAN, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong has urged efforts to secure summer grain harvests and fine-tune the healthcare system to ensure national food security and improve people's well-being.

Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection tour in north China's Hebei and Shanxi provinces from Monday to Wednesday.

He stressed seizing the farming season and going all out to promote summer grain harvests while guaranteeing the supply of agricultural materials and accelerating summer sowing.

Work should be done to strengthen summer field management based on disaster prevention and control and organize the summer purchase of grain and oil to support farmers' enthusiasm for grain growing.

To safeguard people's health, he stressed coordinated development and management of medical insurance, health care, and medicines, urging expanding the variety of centralized bulk-buying of pharmaceuticals and medical consumables, accelerating the reform of medical insurance payment methods, and optimizing related services.

He also emphasized further motivating medical personnel and regulating the use of medical insurance funds.