Vice-Premier Liu Yandong urged full efforts to carry out the nutrition improvement plan for compulsory education students in rural areas during a recent inspection tour to Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

The vice-premier also stressed promoting education, medical and healthcare development and improving the livelihoods and health of the students and the public in poverty-stricken regions.

Liu visited middle and primary schools in remote and impoverished areas to investigate the implementation of the nutrition improvement plan and held a symposium with leaders from central and western China to study related work on nutrition improvement for those students.

Liu said that the nationwide plan first started a trial operation in Ningxia five years ago and now has covered one third of the counties and half of the compulsory schools in China. The central finance has allocated a total of over 120 billion yuan ($18 billion) and more than 33 million students benefited from the plan.

During the 13th Five-Year (2016-20) period, more investment will be arranged and a long-term mechanism will be established, Liu added. By the year of 2017, the plan is expected to cover all poverty-stricken counties on the list of national key poverty relief and development counties.

Meanwhile, standardized and dedicated management should be improved and relevant supervision, assessment and information openness should also be strengthened to strictly hold the bottom line for food security and fund management, Liu said.

Liu also called for establishing an adjustment mechanism for subsidy standards and promoting legislation on students’ nutrition.

While visiting health clinics and hospitals in the autonomous region, Liu stressed accelerating tiered medical systems to improve overall medical services in the region. She also urged making full use of basic medical insurance, insurance for critical diseases and medical relief systems to aid impoverished families.

During the inspection, Liu also visited Ningxia University, cultural heritage protection institutions and a local mosque.