BEIJING -- More than 1,000 major urban hospitals in China have delivered paired assistance to hospitals in over 800 poor counties during the country's 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), official figures showed on Wednesday.

A total of over 80,000 medics were sent by major urban hospitals to support 1,172 hospitals based in poor counties during the period as a result of China's wide-scale efforts to mobilize health circles and other aspects of society to aid the poverty-reduction battle.

Since the paired assistance started in 2016, China has seen a marked improvement in terms of the service and management of county-level hospitals, said Jiao Yahui, an official with the National Health Commission.

In the future, China will further incorporate the paired assistance into its promotion efforts for rural revitalization, Jiao added.