BEIJING -- China now has about 300,000 general practitioners, a considerable force to provide health and medical services at the community level, according to a national association of Chinese doctors.

Zhang Yanling, president of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, said at a forum on general practitioner training that China has formed a relatively sound training system for such personnel with 558 training centers and 1,660 community-level practice bases.

Zhang said about 20,000 people are expected to graduate as general practitioners after relevant training and the ranks of general practitioners in the country are expected to improve significantly in the next decade.

To improve community-level healthcare services for the public, the general office of the State Council last year issued a document urging to reform and enhance the training system for general practitioners and give them more incentives, to see that by 2030 every 10,000 urban and rural residents have at least five qualified general practitioners.