The quality and safety of medical care has risen steadily in China, with patients increasingly benefiting from the adoption of international standards, according to China's top health authority.

Death rates for inpatients at Grade A public hospitals stood at 0.71 percent, while rates at Grade B public hospitals were 0.48 percent, in 2015 - a decrease of 4 percent and 11 percent, respectively, from 2014 - said Guo Yanhong, deputy chief of the National Health and Family Planning Commission's Bureau of Medical Administration, at a news conference on Tuesday.

Death rates for hospitalized patients at Grade A hospitals - the top level of China's three-tier hospital grading system - were higher than for Grade B because they handle a larger proportion of critically ill patients, she said.