BEIJING, Sept. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- Zhao Zilin, vice-director of the Planning and Finance Department under the Ministry of Health (MOH), said China will invest more than 11 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) in 2003 and 2004 to improve its healthcare system emergency response capacity, reported Thursday's China Daily.

　　The central government has already allocated 3 billion yuan (US$362 million) in treasury bonds for this purpose, Zhao was quoted as saying by the English-language newspaper.

　　Zhao said within three years the country will establish a public healthcare system covering both urban and rural areas, which is multi-functional and responds swiftly to emergencies, according to the newspaper.

　　Rural healthcare institutions lack advanced facilities and professional staff and have little capacity to respond to emergencies, he said at the China Health Forum opening Wednesday in Beijing.

　　Most existing healthcare and treatment facilities are unduly concentrated in the cities in central and east China and medical treatment institutions and disease prevention and control centers across the country are not communicating well enough, the paper said. Enditem