China has laid out measures to cope with a pediatrician shortage. A document released jointly by top health and education regulators proposed 1 pediatrician for every 1,500 children by 2020. It says at least one general practitioner who can provide pediatric care should be in every community and township health institute.

It says that in areas that lack pediatric resources, higher learning institutes can run undergraduate program of pediatrics. Recruitment will be expanded for master's programs of pediatrics, and health institutes should prioritize recruiting pediatric graduates.

The document called for measures including retraining 5,000 general practitioners annually and recruiting and training 30,000 resident pediatricians by 2020. It says that the income of pediatricians should not be below that of the doctors at the same level.