A silver lining around the deepening global crisis lies in the opportunity for Chinese policy-makers to accelerate social reforms crucial to reforming the country's growth model.

In this sense, the progress that China achieved in improving health care last year should justify more government efforts to press ahead with overdue healthcare reform.

A more inclusive and affordable healthcare system is badly needed to cushion the Chinese people against all future economic uncertainties. Moreover, government expenditure on healthcare will, in itself, give a huge boost to related industries and thus contribute to an early economic recovery.

A report issued by the Ministry of Health early this week showed that China's basic medical insurance system has been expanded to cover 1 billion of the country's 1.3 billion population.

With government subsidies doubled from 40 yuan (US$5.85) to 80 yuan (US$11.7) a year for each participant, the rural cooperative medical insurance system covered 814 million farmers by the end of last September, up 12.1 percent year on year.

Meanwhile, the basic medical insurance for urban employees already covered more than 180 million people nationwide.

As a result, the ratio of individual health expense to the country's total health expenditure decreased in spite of a national increase in health expenditure last year.

Admittedly, the part of health expenditure that basic medical insurance covers remains meager and the increase of government expenditure on healthcare is inadequate.

Yet, the inclusiveness of such basic medical insurance is of vital importance as the country is set to overhaul the current healthcare system.

According to the latest health reform plan passed by the State Council last month, the Chinese government will set up a universal primary medical service web for the 1.3 billion population and spend 850 billion yuan (US$123 billion) on it by 2011.

The country's still thin but inclusive healthcare insurance net has laid a key foundation for policymakers to promptly bring to fruition all the health reform measures.

Like other key social welfare reforms, it has become more than obvious that a more affordable and accessible healthcare system will provide a greater sense of security and thereby imbue citizens with sufficient confidence to save less and thus raise their purchasing power.

Since China is determined to make domestic consumption a key engine for future growth, no reason exists to delay healthcare reform any longer. It should be near the top of the government's list of priorities.

(China Daily February 20, 2009)