The money is part of a 21.7-billion-yuan investment plan announced by the government in 2006 to overhaul the nation's rural health care network by 2010.
The investment will be spent on new buildings and medical equipment in more than 13,000 clinics and hospitals in villages, townships, and state farms and forestry farms, said the spokesman, Mao Qun'an.
He said the funding was made possible after the State Council, the country's Cabinet, last week decided to allocate 100 billion yuan from the central budget before the end of this year to support infrastructure projects for cheap housing, education, health care, employment, and environmental protection.
Of the 4.8 billion yuan, 2.621 billion yuan will be used on 7,300 infrastructure projects, which cover 26 county-level hospitals, 1,610 township medical centers and 5,547 village clinics, he said.
Another 2.179 billion yuan will be used to establish or improve over 6,000 clinics on farms and islands, officials said.
"The improvement of rural health care infrastructure will be conducive to the prevention and control of major diseases in rural areas, in order to help improve the health of rural residents," Mao said.
Despite China's economic progress, the development of health care services in vast rural areas has lagged because most medical facilities and personnel are in cities.
Poorly equipped rural clinics and a shortage of medical staff have restricted the quality and availability of health care for rural residents. Some are impoverished by the huge costs of medical treatment because they have to travel to cities to seek treatment.
