China plans to set up a comprehensive medical insurance program over the next three years that will cover all urban citizens, including children and the unemployed, said Premier Wen Jiabao at a meeting held on Monday and Tuesday in Beijing.

China plans to set up a comprehensive medical insurance program over the next three years that will cover all urban citizens, including children and the unemployed.

During a meeting held on Monday and Tuesday in Beijing Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said that the country would introduce a national health insurance program for all urban residents.

Currently only employed urban residents have been able to participate in the national health insurance program. The new program's policies, financed by the central government, will provide insurance to a further 200 million urban residents.

The government has selected 79 cities. They will launch the pilot program by the end of September.

Wen stated that different cities should develop reasonable, practical policies for their pilot programs. These programs should be in accordance with their own government revenue and living standards.

They should also give residents freedom of choice and entice them to participate in the scheme with promises of quality service, he said.

The central government will give more support to cities in the less developed central and western areas of China, Wen added.

"China's rapid economic growth and increasing government revenue have provided a sound basis for adopting this program," Wen said.

In the first half of this year, China's government revenue topped 2.6 trillion yuan (US$342.56 billion), a year-on-year rise of 30.6 percent.

The Chinese government started a health insurance program for the urban employed in 1998 and a cooperative health care program for rural residents in 2003.

(Xinhua News Agency July 25, 2007)