BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- China has 50,000 medical and health institutions that offer Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) therapies, according to China's TCM authority.

The State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine revealed that 40 percent of the population have access to TCM programs at the local level.

Wang Guoqiang, director of the administration, said that in the first nine months of 2016, the average fee for TCM treatments and the per capita in-patient cost at public TCM hospitals were 10.82 percent and 23.54 percent lower than treatments offered by other public hospitals.

Wang said that the public have benefited from TCM treatment being included in the country's medical insurance system.

He also called for a bigger role for TCM in disease prevention and treatment, and rehabilitation.

China's top legislature last month adopted a law on TCM, giving it a bigger role in the country's medical system.