The region has built medical services in 71 townships and 874 villages in the rural areas neighboring Vietnam, with an investment of 20 million yuan (about US$2.4 million), local officials said, adding they have greatly improved the health care for local people.

During the past decade, Guangxi has totally spent over 500 million yuan (about US$60 million) on rural heath care work, and has established medical services in nearly 14,000 villages, according to officials.

This May, Guangxi started to reconstruct and upgrade most of its township medical services with an overall investment of 130 million yuan.

(Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2001)