BEIJING - The number of China's medical and health institutions, comprised of hospitals, primary-level medical institutions as well as public health institutions for specific purposes, reached 997,434 at the end of 2018, 10,785 more than a year earlier, official figures have shown.

The number of hospitals and primary-level clinics increased by over 1,900 and 10,000 to around 33,000 and 944,000 respectively, according to a report on China's medical and healthcare sector issued by the National Health Commission (NHC).

Public health institutions for specific purposes, including centers for disease control and prevention, institutions for treatment and prevention of certain specific diseases, maternal and child health centers, and centers of health supervision, totaled around 18,000, down by 1,862 from the previous year.

Primary-level medical institutions refer to those clinics and healthcare centers based in urban communities, townships and villages across China.

At the end of 2018, there were more than 36,000 township-level clinics, 622,000 village-based clinics and nearly 35,000 community-level healthcare centers in China, according to the report.