BEIJING - A total of 6,822 students from central and western China's rural regions will be enrolled this year in free five-year bachelor programs in medicine, according to the Ministry of Education.

The annual enrollment plan falls under a central-government funded program for cultivating health professionals for township-based health institutions in China's central and western regions.

The students can be enrolled in majors including clinical medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, traditional Mongolian medicine, traditional Tibetan medicine and traditional Dai ethnic medicine, said a circular issued by the ministry.

Applicants for the program must be from China's rural areas and sit the national college entrance exam, according to the circular.