Hainan Island - A Special Zone for Medical Tourism (Photo : Getty Images)
The Chinese government has announced a plan to build medical tourism on Hainan Island. A special economic zone will be dedicated to promoting the Chinese medical industry to tourists.
The Hainan Island will be a place foreigners can visit to get cheap medical services. The scheme is similar to that of Guangdong Province where foreign entities go for cheap electronics manufacturing.
The special economic zone will have its own governing body for medical experimentation, particularly with stem cells. It will be allowed to conduct researches which are forbidden or controlled in other parts of the country.
The Beijing announcement formalizes the pilot scheme which has been running for four years.
In 2013, the State Council has approved the Hainan Boao Lecheng international medical tourism pilot zone. It was the first of its kind in China.
The pilot zone benefits from nine preferential policies. Among these policies are special permission for medical talent, technology, devices and drugs and a capacity to allow entry of foreign capital and international communications.
It is also allowed to conduct pioneering studies in the medical technology field like the stem cell clinical research.
Around 20 projects amounting to 19.8 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) of investments have been established in the pilot zone. The Chinese government has agreed to another 15 projects for the zone.
Nine investment projects were approved at the congress in Boao, five of which are associated with the special economic zone. The nine projects have an 8.4 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) total contract value.
According to Jonathan Edelheit, CEO of the Medical Tourism Association, the Hainan Island, given its subtropical climate and coastal scenery, has many attributes advantageous to the progress of its medical tourism industry.
China hopes for a boost in the number of foreign tourists as it formalizes the medical tourism on Hainan Island.
