Pediatrician Yang Yang checks a child at Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center in Guangdong province in January. [Photo by Zhang Ziwang/chinadaily.com.cn]

Chen Jingyu, a deputy to the National People's Congress and vice-president of Wuxi People's Hospital, said during the ongoing two sessions that the tuition of medical students planning to become pediatricians should be exempted to lure more students into the field.

"Many hospitals across the country face a severe shortage of pediatricians," he said. The authorities set the target in 2016 that every 1,000 children in the country should have 0.69 pediatricians by 2020.

"However, there are now only 0.5 pediatricians for every 1,000 children in Wuxi, a relatively developed city in East China. In some developed countries the figure has reached 0.85 to 1.3."

He suggested that a special honor should be given to reward the hard work and dedication of veteran pediatricians who have been working in the field for 30 years. A pension raise also should be given to attract more medical students to choose pediatrics as their careers.