Public hospitals in China will operate under a new system not driven by profits by 2020, according to a guideline the State Council, China's Cabinet, released on Tuesday.

China should establish a "modern hospital management system" that adheres to putting people's health at the center and adheres to the nonprofit nature of public hospitals and putting the public's interest as a priority, the guideline said.

By 2020, it said, the new system will ensure that a nonprofit, higher-efficiency and sustainable development has been established.

Public hospitals are the main provider of healthcare in China. These hospitals, which numbered more than 12,700 by the end of last year, provided 2.85 billion outpatient and emergency services last year, accounting for more than 87 percent of the cases provided by all hospitals in China, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission. Private facilities accounted for the rest.

To ensure the new nonprofit hospital structure is sustainable, health authorities will make new health plans and establish integrated healthcare systems in different regions for a better distribution of health resources between big hospitals and community health centers, Wang Hesheng, vice-minister of the health commission and head of the State Council Medical Reform Office, said at a news conference on Wednesday.

The government will increase funding to public hospitals and help them repay loans so they can retain a nonprofit status, he said.