Vice Minister of Finance Wang Jun on Wednesday called for more private investment in the country's health sector.

Vociferous demands for better medical services from urban and rural residents mean that we need the active involvement of privately funded hospitals, he said at an industry forum held in Beijing.

Better coordination between private and public hospitals would also be appreciated, he said.

Official figures showed China's spending on public health care kept rising by more than 20 percent a year for the fourth consecutive year, the fastest growth rate of all sectors, but still the country's health system is in disarray.

The central government has budgeted 31.28 billion yuan to fund the health system in 2007, up 86.8 percent on last year.

Wang said the government would map out favorable tax to spur more participation in the health sector by private companies.

The health minister Gao Qiang recognized on Sunday that the country's health care system had fallen behind in the country's breakneck economic growth, saying the Chinese people have reacted strongly to inadequate medical care.

"This needs a huge amount of government spending," Gao said. "And without effective control of medical resources, there will be a lot of waste," he noted.

(Xinhua News Agency March 22, 2007)