BEIJING, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Nine prestige hospitals set up a nursing union Wednesday to cultivate more clinic nurses amid China's efforts to ease the shortage of professionals and quality nursing resources.

The union, initiated by the Peking Union Medical College Hospital, will focus on training by sharing member hospitals' education resources, formulate standards on nurse cultivation nationwide, and play a model role in the field, according to Wu Xinjuan, director of the board of leading members of the Chinese Nursing Association.

The number of registered nurses in China exceeded 4 million at the end of 2018, rising to 3 nurses per 1,000 people, the National Health Commission announced Wednesday.

In the face of a wide gap between the demand for nursing services and the actual number of nurses, authorities will step up efforts to train more medical care workers, said Jiao Yahui, an official with the commission, at a press conference ahead of International Nurses Day, which falls on May 12.