China had about 35 million registered nurses by the end of last year, accounting for 42 percent of all medics, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

The figure represented an increase of 71 percent compared with 2010, and there are currently an average of 2.54 nurses for every 1,000 citizens nationwide, compared with 1.52 in 2010, Guo Yanhong, the commission's deputy director of medical administration, said on Wednesday.

Of the total number of nurses, nearly 700,000 work at grassroots level healthcare facilities and "they play an important role in guarding public health and preventing diseases", Guo said.

She also urged more men to become nurses. The nation has less than 10,000 male nurses, which falls well short of clinical demand.

In another development, to facilitate a hierarchical medical system required by China's ongoing healthcare reform, the commission has been pushing forward a general practitioner system, under which all citizens have access to contract-based family doctors from local community clinics.

The commission's latest statistics show about 27 provinces have joined the initiative.