Highlights: China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission briefs media
Updated 11:01, 28-Jun-2018
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China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) held a press conference at the media center for the fifth Session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing on Saturday.
Minister Li Bin and vice ministers Wang Peian and Wang Hesheng took questions from journalists on the country’s health and family planning reforms. 
Li Bin. /China.com Photo

Li Bin. /China.com Photo

Here are some highlights of the press conference: 

On two-child policy: 

Factors including mothers’ work opportunities, lack of childcare services and economic pressures are affecting people’s decision to have more children, Vice Minister Wang Peian told journalists. 
However, the effects of the two-child policy are “fairly obvious and positive”, meeting authorities’ expectations, said Wang. 
In 2016, China saw over 18.46 million births, 1.4 million more than the average number of each year during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) period, according to Wang. ‍
Wang Peian. /China.com Photo

Wang Peian. /China.com Photo

On critical illness insurance: 

More than one billion urban and rural residents were covered by critical illness insurance in 2016, with the reimbursement ratio reaching 70 percent on average, according to Minister Li. 
The authorities said they will take the following measures to promote the insurance system: 
- Reducing the minimum fee for patients;
- Improving the service system to make it more convenient for patients; 
- Paying more attention to rural poor patients. ‍
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