BEIJING - China appropriated 24.5 billion yuan (around $3.45 billion) in medical assistance subsidies in 2019, including 4 billion yuan allocated for beefing up medical security in areas of deep poverty, the National Healthcare Security Administration said.

In 2019, more than 77 million people funded by the subsidies signed up for basic medical insurance, according to a statistics report released by the administration.

China has built a system of basic medical insurance, major disease insurance and medical assistance to alleviate poverty through healthcare.

By the end of 2019, 200 million impoverished people had benefited from such programs, and 4.18 million people who fell into poverty due to illness have been lifted out.

Basic medical insurance had covered more than 99.9 percent of the poverty-stricken population in rural areas by the end of 2019, the report said.