BEIJING -- The Chinese central government has allocated 1.49 billion yuan ($242.67 million) to a subsidy fund to support development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the rest of 2013, the Ministry of Finance announced on Wednesday.

The move came after the State Council issued guidelines on Monday to boost the nation's health service sector.

According to the guidelines, the nation has required relevant authorities to take advantage of TCM in disease prevention and healthcare.

The new fund will be used to promote research and development of TCM at the grass-roots level, establish workshops for senior and famous doctors, construct special medical centers in rural areas and fund human resources training, according to the ministry.