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China to Trial Fully Foreign-Owned Hospitals in Nine Areas

China's Ministry of Commerce will implement a pilot project allowing foreign firms to fully own hospitals in nine cities and provinces as the country tries to woo back foreign investment, Reuters reports.

Previously, according to Nikkei Asia, foreign firms could run hospitals in China through joint ventures, despite a pilot project in 2014 similar to the current one. Last year, "Malaysian hospital operator IHH Healthcare opened a new hospital in Shanghai under a joint venture involving Taikang Insurance Group and state-owned enterprise Shanghai Hongxin Medical Investment Holding."

Per Reuters, the policy hopes to fulfil a pledge by the Communist Party's Central Committee, which aims to "promote the high-quality development of China's medical-related fields, and better meet the medical and health needs of the people." It would allow foreign-owned hospitals in the relatively wealthy cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, as well as Hainan province. However, hospitals practicing traditional Chinese medicine, and mergers and acquisitions of public hospitals cannot benefit from the scheme.