China will make more efforts to relieve financial burdens on patients — especially those with serious diseases — with more than 20 million people expected to be covered by medical insurance for serious diseases by the end of the year, Premier Li Keqiang said Tuesday.

The Chinese government has been making great efforts in the past five years to ensure basic health care services for the people, and has established the world's biggest basic medical insurance network, he told reporters at a news conference in Beijing.

Despite the universal coverage of basic medical insurance programs, some people with financial difficulties still find it hard to afford medical bills in case of serious disease, while others still find it difficult to have access to quality health care services, he said.

"China still has more than 30 million people living in poverty, and many of them live in poverty or fell back to poverty because of serious diseases," Premier Li said. "We will put this high on the agenda, making treatment of serious diseases more affordable for the people, while continuing to improve basic medical insurance."

As a solution, authorities in China in recent years have been trying to integrate the government's basic medical insurance programs with various commercial insurance programs to improve effects of the fund on health care relief, and more than 17 million people had been covered by medical insurance programs for serious diseases by the end of last year.

This year the government will intensify efforts in this regard and half of the increased capital for the national basic medical insurance fund will be integrated with commercial insurance, he said, with more serious diseases added to the list covered by insurance.

Meanwhile, more measures will be taken to encourage a flow of quality medical resources to grassroots hospitals and clinics, such as integrating healthcare with internet technology, so patients with serious diseases at the grassroots can also get good treatment, he said.

"We must use serious disease insurance program and other policy steps to protect families from being overwhelmed by such severe difficulties," Li said.