China increases fiscal spending on medical services

Physicians prescribe traditional Chinese medicine at a hospital in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province, Aug. 25, 2017. The Chinese government spent 5.95 trillion yuan (about 862 billion U.S. dollars) on medical services from 2013 to 2017, with an average annual increase of 11.7 percent, according to a report submitted to National People's Congress, China's top legislature. China's fiscal spending on medical services in 2017 was 1.4 trillion yuan, a 55.5-percent increase from 2013, accounting for 7.1 percent of national fiscal spending. The average life expectancy of Chinese people increased to 76.7 years in 2017 from 74.8 years in 2010, said the report. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)