BEIJING - China has vowed to further build up the country's rehabilitation therapy capacity in the 2011-2015 period by exerting more strength in cultivating talents and improving such services offered in urban community- or rural township-based clinics.

Citing a national guideline issued recently, the Health Ministry in a statement released Monday said the role of top-caliber hospitals in cultivating rehabilitation medicine talents for small, local hospitals will be well tapped.

Moreover, in each provincial-level region, one or two bases for rehabilitation medicine and training for therapy professionals will be formed to help create more qualified talents for local clinics, the ministry said.

Efforts will also be made to facilitate the treatment of patients in a more efficient manner, and after having acute illnesses treated in top-level hospitals, patients will then be directed to visit doctors at their local community or township hospitals for rehabilitation therapy.

In regions where medical services can be easily and adequately accessed, the ministry said medium-sized hospitals are encouraged to be transformed into rehabilitation therapy-focused medical institutions.

Furthermore, the ministry called for efforts to encourage and support the entry of private capital into the rehabilitation therapy sector by creating a more equal market environment for them.