Opening up medical sector brings benefits to all parties

On Friday, the National Health Commission and three other departments jointly issued a pilot work plan on further opening up the medical sector. It proposes allowing the establishment of wholly foreign-owned hospitals in nine provincial-level regions including Beijing and Tianjin, with the exception of traditional Chinese medicine hospitals. It has also set forth clear regulations regarding pilot conditions and management measures.

Some worry that it might affect the domestic hospital system but that worry is unnecessary. In 2023, the number of hospitals in China reached 38,000. The addition of these wholly foreign-owned hospitals is not expected to significantly impact the overall development of the national hospital system or the basic medical services.

The primary service targets of the newcomers are domestic residents with diverse medical needs and foreign nationals studying, working, or living in China, offering them services that complement those provided by other hospitals so as to better meet the public's varied healthcare demands.

Furthermore, introducing high-level wholly foreign-owned hospitals is conducive to enhancing the investment environment for foreign enterprises and expanding high-level opening-up.

At the same time, the management concepts, methods, and service approaches of these hospitals can serve as references for the development of domestic hospitals. This is clearly reflected in the work plan, which requires investors to provide internationally advanced hospital management concepts and service models, leading-edge medical technology and equipment, and to supplement or improve local deficiencies in medical service capabilities, medical technology, and medical facilities.

To ensure the opening-up measures are carried out well, the work plan also stipulates that wholly foreign-owned hospitals must comply with the general requirements of laws and regulations such as China's Biosecurity Law and Data Security Law.

It specifically requires that hospital information management systems be integrated into local medical service supervision platforms, and that servers storing electronic medical records and medical equipment information be located within China, thereby ensuring the security of medical information data.

As China's economy and society continue to develop and people's living standards rise, there is a growing demand for multilevel, diversified, and internationalized medical health services.

Allowing the establishment of wholly foreign-owned hospitals is just one of many measures China is taking to open its medical sector. In recent years, multinational companies have increasingly invested in China's medical field, such as in the manufacturing of medical instruments and devices, with investment growth reaching 57.3 percent in the first three quarters of this year.