Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    IN a bid to deal with a below-national-average number of hospital beds, Shenzhen will speed up construction of medical facilities and invite private investment into public health industries.

    Shenzhen currently has 2.88 beds for every 1,000 residents, far below the national average of 4.55 beds per 1,000 and below Guangdong’s average of 3.71 beds for every 1,000 people.

    By 2020, the number of hospital beds could reach four beds for every 1,000 residents, Sun Meihua, deputy chief of Shenzhen’s health commission, said at a press conference yesterday.

    Shenzhen is planning 31 medical facility projects, including 12 projects that are under construction, according to Sun. The city is now building an international medical center with cooperation from foreign experts.

    Between 2009 and 2014, the city built seven AAA hospitals and medical insurance reached a coverage level of 11.57 million people.

    The city has allowed the University of Hong Kong, Beijing University and Nanfang Medical University to set up hospitals. A total 24 medical teams have started key laboratories in the city. The Nanfang Medical University Shenzhen Hospital will be put into operation in June.

    Officials responsible for food safety also spoke at the press conference.

    Yue Xin, the deputy chief of Shenzhen’s food safety administration, said that the city had decided to invest 2.36 billion yuan (US$375 million) in food and drug safety projects between 2013 and 2020. The projects include food safety risk control and supervision and agricultural produce safety, which will cost 989 million yuan because 95 percent of the city’s agricultural products are imported from outside the city. The city will also set up 1,000 food testing areas to cover all wholesale markets.

    An official from the education sector said that the city will spend 10 billion yuan in the coming three to four years to build and renovate 100 schools and offer 140,000 school seats for students.