With a mission to improve rural health centers and clinics, a research team led by Zhang Qingli, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), visited Southwest China's Yunnan province from June 5 to 8. 

Zhang said strengthening the service and management of health facilities in rural areas plays a critical role in addressing people's concerns for healthcare accessibility and affordability as well as ensuring their wellbeing and happiness. 

To promote the availability of quality medical resources in rural areas and accentuate the not-for-profit nature of health services, Zhang said, it's necessary to adopt a holistic approach that integrates top-level design, specific measures suitable to local conditions and suggestions from local people. Efforts should also be made to improve the systems and mechanisms for the management of rural health facilities, to give full play to the unique strengths of traditional Chinese medicine in disease prevention, treatment and rehabilitation, and to build a strong team of healthcare professionals, he added.

The research team, divided into two groups, visited village-based clinics, township-level hospitals and pharmaceutical enterprises in the cities of Kunming and Yuxi. During the visit, they had in-depth talks with medical workers and managers and heard reports from local authorities to identify the problems and best practices of the initiative.