BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- China has beefed up efforts to ensure medical care for children, according to the National Health Commission (NHC).
The country has witnessed major progresses in its pediatric medical care system in terms of its infrastructure and training of pediatricians in recent years, said Guo Yanhong, deputy director of the NHC's Medical Administration Bureau.
The number of pediatric hospitals in China reached 228 by the end of 2018, and another 20 pediatric hospitals are under construction, according to Guo.
Meanwhile, the number of pediatricians grew to 154,000 by the end of last year, up 28.3 percent from 2015.
"The figure comes to about 0.63 pediatrician for every 1,000 children. I am confident the country's target of 0.69 by 2020 could be reached on schedule," Guo said.
The government issued a guideline in 2016 on advancing reform and development of pediatric medical services, calling for more children's hospitals, a larger team of pediatricians and higher quality of services to cope with national pediatrician shortage.
Many provinces and cities including Beijing have published directories for pediatric hospitals and clinics to make it more convenient for the patients to seek treatment, according to Guo.
CHONGQING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Chongqing Municipality in southwest China plans to launch 10 new international air routes this year, Mayor Tang Liangzhi said in a government work report on Sunday.
In 2018, the city launched 14 international air routes, bringing the total number of overseas routes to 82, Tang said in the report delivered to the annual session of the municipal people's congress.
The Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport handled 41.6 million passengers last year, about three million of whom left for and arrived from overseas destinations.
Chongqing has direct flight routes to New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Rome, Moscow and Helsinki. Air cargo routes connect the city with Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Chicago and Sydney.
By 2020, the airport aims to bring the total number of air routes to 100 and handle 50 million passengers.
BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- A food tracking system involving 86,000 companies and 524,000 merchants has been established in 58 big- and medium-sized cities across China, a spokesman with the Ministry of Commerce has said.
The tracking system covers commonly-consumed meats like pork and beef, over 500 kinds of vegetables and some fruits as well as aquatic products.
The establishment of the tracking system will help ensure food safety for consumers, Gao Feng said at a press conference.
As the Spring Festival draws near, the government has increased vegetable and pork supplies to meet rising demand, Gao said, adding that 9,600 tonnes of pork reserves have been released into the market.
A market monitoring mechanism will be put into use during the Spring Festival. Once drastic price fluctuations or shortages of certain food are reported, the government will release stockpiles to the market promptly to ensure adequate supplies, he said.
