BEIJING -- China will establish medical consortiums to provide grid-based medical services, according to a regulation on the management of such consortiums, effective as of Saturday.

The regulation asks local health authorities to make plans to divide a city or county into several grids, based on factors including geography, population, medical needs, and medical resource distributions.

Each grid will see the establishment of a medical consortium led by a major hospital, and joined by several other hospitals and primary-level clinics.

In principle, the consortium will be responsible for providing integrated and continuous healthcare services to residents in the grid.

Such a mechanism aims to enhance cooperation and benefit-sharing within each consortium, and channel high-quality medical resources to grass-roots levels.

The regulation has been jointly issued by the National Health Commission and the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.