More medical unions led by hospitals specializing in traditional Chinese medicine are expected to be set up over the next few years so TCM will play a more important role in public healthcare, according to a circular released on Monday.

Leading TCM hospitals in an area, such as a county or a city, are encouraged to establish medical unions covering other hospitals in the area to assist their development, so they can improve cooperation to provide tiered health care services to local people, according to the circular, jointly released by the National Health Commission and the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Local health authorities should intensify efforts to improve computerization of major TCM hospitals so they can offer online services to people at the grassroots level, the circular said.

It is expected that by 2020, more than 90 percent of county-level TCM hospitals in China will be able to provide healthcare services with required standards, it said.