China will provide basic public services in a targeted manner in healthcare, one of the fields that concern people the most, the Central Economic Work Conference said Friday, with efforts to further slash prices for drugs and nucleic acid tests and push forward medical reform.

The annual meeting was held in Beijing from Wednesday to Friday to chart the course for China's economy in 2022.

The country has announced a new medicine list for 2022 under its medical insurance system, with 74 new drugs added to the list, according to a notice (link in Chinese) published in early December by the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA).

The notice also said that 67 other drugs not included in the list will enjoy negotiated prices, with an average price reduction of 61.71 percent, including two drugs for COVID-19 treatment.

The latest move is expected to reduce the burden on patients by over 30 billion yuan ($4.7 billion) next year, NHSA said (link in Chinese). It will benefit a wide range of patients, including those for tumors, chronic diseases, infections and rare diseases.

The new list including 1,486 western medicines and 1,374 Chinese proprietary medicines, will come into effect on January 1, 2022, according to the notice.

The NHSA has conducted six batches of massive drug procurements since its foundation in 2018, with negotiated prices of selected drugs plunging by an average of 53 percent.

The negotiated prices have reduced the burden on patients by nearly 200 billion yuan over the past four years through the national medical insurance system that covers more than 95 percent of its population and is the largest in the world.

In mid-November, the NHSA also launched a third round of national price adjustments and required local authorities to reduce prices of COVID-19 nucleic acid tests in public hospitals by December 15 to help reduce costs for residents amid a new wave of cases.

After the adjustment, the price shall not exceed 40 yuan per person for a single test or 10 yuan a person for group tests. As of Friday, a total of 30 provinces and municipalities have finished the price adjustments, NHSA said (link in Chinese).

Starting from Saturday, Beijing cuts the price to 35 yuan per person for a single test, and the price for a group is lowered to 8 yuan per person, the lowest price in this round of adjustment.

The prices of nucleic acid tests and antibody tests in the country have been slashed by more than 70 percent and 40 percent respectively, since the country added medical supplies and medicines used in COVID-19 treatment to the national medical insurance coverage catalog in June 2020, according to the Global Times' report.

In September, China has released its latest medical security plan (link in Chinese) designed for the 14th Five Year Plan period (2021-2025) in order to improve the medical insurance system to better meet people's needs for medical services and drugs amid the new round of medical reform.

The country will establish a multi-tiered medical insurance system with universal coverage of both urban and rural residents, enhance the medical-insurance system, and build up a strong supporting system with a solid legal basis and better digital services, according to the plan.