'Chuangke' dreams high to improve health care experience

BEIJING - Waiting for hours to be treated in hospital while knowing nothing of the doctor's track record is an everyday occurence in China, and Li Huachun and his team intend to change.

Li left his well paid job in frustration last year when he realized that the management software he designed for hospitals did nothing to shorten the lines of patients waiting to be treated and started Smart-Cloud Health Data (Beijing) Technology Co Ltd.

The 50-plus team is determined to change the face of China's health service. They are using all their expertise of designing software for hospitals to create detailed doctor resources for patients; creating a cellphone app for patients to ask doctors questions; and publicizing details of treatment costs.

Although financing is a problem for many new Chinese businesses, Li's company secured financing from Joynt Capital, a domestic private equity investment company. Li hopes to get his company listed in the near future.

A wave of "Chuangke" ("makers" in Chinese) like Li are starting companies with new business models as the government cuts red tape and make things easy for start-ups, said Hu Minxiang, founding partner of Joynt Capital.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is the standard bearer for the spirit of entrepreneurialism and self-motivation in China today, recently daring students to be pioneers, break down conventions and show their entrepreneurial spirit.

"New business models are key to entrepreneurship, and creating jobs," said Hu. "Start-ups are now getting more financing support from private equity investors, banks and Internet-based finance."

In the first quarter, 3.2 million new jobs were created in China's urban areas. Li's company expanded its staff by more than 20 in the past year. Jobs are being created in sectors related to the Internet and high technology.

In the first three months of this year, the number of newly founded firms in China rose by nearly 40 percent from a year ago and about 80 percent of them are in the service sector.