"The regulations are designed to solve the problem of insufficient public funds in some places, especially in the countryside, which means that medical expenditure for disabled army personnel is not covered," said an official with the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MOCA).

    Official statistics show that medical care for a soldier with a deformity graded 1 to 6 costs 6,000 yuan (750 U.S. dollars) per year.

    The regulations specify how to purchase medical insurance with the subsidy, and provide explanations for those who cannot afford the minimum medical insurance fees, the official noted.

    According to him, there are 10 grades of deformity for soldiers in China. People who lose all or most of their working capacity are graded 1 to 6, depending on the nature of the disability.

    The official noted that the issue of the regulations is an important step in improving service for retired and disabled army men, who have the priority in China's national compensation system. By September 2004, a total of 39 million people were covered by the system, including members of revolutionary martyrs' families, disabled army men, retired Red Army soldiers, retired army personnel, etc.

    So far, China has issued more than 20 sets of national compensation regulations, and local governments have also issued over 2,000 policies.

    However, the official pointed out that the regulation currently being used to compensate army men was issued in 1988, and due to soaring costs it is now outdated.

    Recognising this, China increased national compensation by 15 percent per year from 1998 to 2004, making a total investment of 44.8 billion yuan (5.6 billion U.S. dollars). Besides, big cities like Beijing also provide army personnel with benefits, such as free bus and subway transport and free entry to museums.

    In August last year, China invested 7.46 billion yuan (941 million U.S. dollars) to improve the national compensation standard for the 16th time. About 860,000 disabled army men, 500,000 members of revolutionary martyrs' families, 80,000 retired Red Army soldiers and 2.22 million demobilized soldiers are concerned by the measures. Enditem