China's National Audit Office is carrying out a nationwide audit of the new rural cooperative medical care system and its accounts, it said Sunday.

The three-month audit started in May, with auditors going to township clinics in nine provinces -- Anhui, Hubei, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Hunan, Sichuan, Fujian, Henan and Heilongjiang.

The audit had thus far showed that the system had helped improve the quality of medical services in rural areas and eased the financial burden on families, the office said.

About 94.44 billion yuan (US$13.83 billion) went into the fund in 2009, with the central government, local governments and affiliate organizations chipping in 26.96 billion yuan, 47.2 billion yuan, and 19.42 billion yuan respectively, according to the Ministry of Health.

About 833 million farmers, 94 percent of the total rural population, had joined the rural medical care system by the end of last year.

In April 2009, the government unveiled a three-year plan to reform health care.

(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2010)