All tertiary general hospitals in China will be required to set up a traditional Chinese medicine department, and all secondary hospitals will be encouraged to build TCM departments, a health official said on July 23.

In the meantime, the country will increase the number of TCM practitioners and drugstores at general hospitals, Yan Huaguo, deputy director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese medicine's medical administration bureau, said during a news briefing.

The administration, along with two other government departments, recently released a guideline aimed at promoting joint development of Western medicine and TCM at general hospitals.

Yan said more efforts will be devoted to improving clinical services that meld these two treatment approaches.

In addition, the administration will strive to formulate 100 diagnosis and treatment plans that exemplify the integration of Western medicine and TCM in the next five years. Serious diseases such as cancer will be its focus, he said.