China's healthcare sector sees progress in expanding foreign participation

China's health care sector is making steady progress in opening up to foreign investment and expertise, with more than 150 joint-venture and wholly overseas-invested medical institutions now operating nationwide, a senior health official announced Monday.

Over 1,500 health care professionals from outside the mainland are currently practicing in China on a short-term basis, said Jiao Yahui, a senior official with the National Health Commission, at a press briefing in Beijing.

These developments come as China rolls out policies and measures to expand foreign participation in its health care services sector, in part of a broader effort to open up the country's services industry.

The latest moves include allowing qualified foreign doctors and those from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan to open clinics in designated pilot regions. The measures also support short-term practice for overseas medical professionals, with streamlined and simplified approval processes.

These actions fall under a work plan to expand access to China's services sector for foreign investment and professionals, which was released last week by the Ministry of Commerce.

With data security and patient privacy safeguarded, the plan also encourages the joint development and sharing of health and medical databases. It calls for the increased standardization of clinical data and improved sharing between hospitals.

Together with previous pilot efforts such as a move to permit the establishment of wholly foreign-owned hospitals, these new moves highlight China's ongoing commitment to opening up its health care system, Jiao said.

"Our goal is to introduce high-quality medical resources to better serve the diverse and personalized health care needs of both Chinese citizens and foreigners living in the country, while complementing the public health care system," Jiao noted.

Looking ahead, the NHC will work to promote commercial health insurance as a means of supporting overseas-funded medical institutions. It also aims to encourage these institutions to adopt China's version of international hospital accreditation standards, enabling alignment with global health insurance systems, according to Jiao.

In late 2024, China introduced a pilot program allowing the establishment of wholly foreign-owned hospitals in nine major cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin.