The State Council of China has released a “Five Year Action Plan for Deepening the Implementation of the People-oriented New Urbanization Strategy,” aiming to enhance urbanization and tackle the challenges associated with agriculture, countryside, and farmers, collectively known as the “Three Rural Issues.”
The plan emphasizes the expansion of social security coverage for agricultural migrant populations, with a commitment to improve the social security system for flexible employment, migrant workers, and those in new forms of employment. The government will facilitate social insurance participation based on the workplace, irrespective of registered residence, and enhance the portability of social security benefits. It will also guide agricultural migrants to participate in employee pension and medical insurance schemes and implement policies allowing residents with permits to access basic medical insurance. The plan aims to increase the number of designated medical institutions for direct medical settlement and expand the pilot program for occupational injury protection for new employment forms, including eligible agricultural migrants in social assistance to safeguard the livelihood of vulnerable groups.
Furthermore, the document encourages economically capable provinces to develop sub-center cities, sharing the non-core functions of provincial capitals and bolstering county hospital capabilities. It calls for diversified investment to improve medical and health public service capabilities, with special quotas to support these improvements. Mega and large cities are urged to redistribute concentrated high-quality medical resources, collaborate with neighboring cities to establish Class 3 hospitals, and promote mutual recognition of medical examination results across cities.
The plan also mandates the establishment of a joint prevention and control mechanism for major disasters and public events, strengthening emergency rescue coordination and security. It calls for the construction of tourist and residential facilities with isolation functions, the upgrade of medical emergency service points, and the expansion of suburban warehouse bases in mountainous counties (districts) within the jurisdiction of mega and large cities to enhance urban emergency response capabilities.- Flcube.com
