Healthy outlook for medical industry in Guizhou

A pharmaceutical company in Guiyang, capital city of Guizhou province. The total value of the new health and medical industry in Guizhou is expected to break 80 billion yuan by 2017. (Photo/Provided to China Daily)

Domestic and foreign health and pharmaceutical companies will establish 208 programs and projects in Guizhou province, with total investments expected to reach 177.71 billion yuan ($28.42 billion), according to a news conference in Beijing on Monday.

The programs will cover pharmaceutical production, medical services, pharmaceutical research and health tourism, as the province supports the development of the broad health and pharmaceutical industry.

"Supported by the latest technological revolution, the health and medical industry is becoming a leading industry in the new century," said Zhao Kezhi, Party chief of Guizhou, at the meeting which saw the signing of 30 projects.

The health and pharmaceutical industry, together with the big data industry, will become core sectors in the province, Zhao said, and the province is looking at ways to combine the two industries into a health information industry.

According to the government's plan, the total value of the new health and medical industry in Guizhou will exceed 80 billion yuan by 2017.

Zhao said that Guizhou province has plentiful natural resources to develop health and medical services, since many rare medicinal plants grow there and the weather is suitable for people to recuperate.

The local government is doing other things to support the health and pharmaceutical industry, such as building demonstration parks, providing for the training of skilled workers and establishing bonded zones, he added.

The policies demonstrate Guizhou's support for new industries, which are in line with the central government's plans for the health service industry, said Wang Longde, head of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association.

A health service system with a value of 8 trillion yuan will be built up in China by 2020, according to a plan of the State Council, Wang said.

Guizhou province's investment in the broader health and pharmaceutical industry is important because chronic diseases have become the dominant threat to public health, he said.

Some health and medical companies, some very well-known, have been attracted by the province's advantages to invest there.

Five programs of Jilin Xiuzheng Pharmaceutical Group Stock Co Ltd will be located in Guizhou province, said Xiu Laigui, chairman of the group. "The group is very confident about Guizhou province's great health and pharmaceutical industry with its good natural conditions," he said.

Yunnan Baiyao Group Co, manufacturer of one of the country's most famous traditional Chinese medicines, also signed a contract with the Guian New Area, an economic demonstration area in the province, to develop Chinese medicine and health service programs.

International Hospitals Group, a United Kingdom-based healthcare services company, signed a contract with the new area to establish the first public hospital, which will have 1,000 beds. The hospital program will start in August this year and be completed in two to three years.

Adam Williams, deputy chairman of IHG China, said that the group looked at several locations in Southwest China with its partner. The high-speed railway network in the region was a major reason that Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province, was chosen.

The high-speed railway connecting Guangzhou in southern China's Guangdong province and Guiyang began operations at the end of 2014. The trip takes about five hours.