Recently, the Ministry of Commerce, the National Health Commission and the National Medical Products Administration issued a notice on carrying out pilot work to expand openness in the medical field. It proposes to allow the establishment of wholly foreign-owned hospitals (excluding traditional Chinese medicine and not including the acquisition of public hospitals) in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and the entire Hainan Island.
At present, there is only one wholly foreign-owned medical institution in Shanghai, which is the Shanghai Towako Hospital located in Pudong. This is also the first wholly foreign-owned hospital in the country. Benefiting from a series of policies to deepen reform and opening up in the Shanghai Free Trade Pilot Zone, the Shanghai Towako Hospital was established in the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone in 2015 and officially opened for business in May 2016.
After the initial difficult period of operation, the Shanghai Towako Hospital began to make a profit and pay taxes three years after its opening. Since its opening, it has served more than 300,000 people, with 2,277 babies born through assisted reproductive treatments, becoming a specialized hospital with a complete range of assisted reproductive technology solutions, affordable treatment costs and diversified service models.
The Japan Towako Medical Group is an international large-scale medical institution group with an international reputation in the field of high-end gynecology technology. Its wholly-owned enterprise, the Shanghai Towako Hospital, not only brings high-value new medical models but also combines medical concepts, technology, teams, market, management, funds and the advantages of the free trade zone policy, forming a dual-track system in China: a localized management of international hospitals with Chinese characteristics, creating a high-end medical service model that strictly complies with Chinese medical and health professional standards and also meets international standards.
Medical service institutions represented by the Shanghai Towako Hospital are gradually taking root in Pudong, continuously promoting medical openness. For example, the Singapore Raffles Medical Group has established a branch and independently operated and managed in the Qiantan area of the World Expo area; the Shanghai United Family Jinqiao Hospital provides high-end medical services that meet international standards to high-end groups both domestically and internationally in the expanded area of the free trade zone, meeting the needs of Chinese and foreign patients for multi-level medical services.
