China's announcement in opening healthcare market gains support

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on April 7, 2006. According to this article, Beijing recently announced that it will allow Taiwanese investors to set up joint venture hospitals in China and permit Taiwanese medical doctors to get a license and practice there. This announcement was welcomed by Taiwan's medical sector.

Specifically, Taiwanese investors will be allowed to hold up to 70 percent of the joint venture hospitals they set up with Chinese partners. Taiwanese medical doctors will have to pass official examinations before receiving a licence to practice in China.

However, China's recent announcement means nothing new, because three years ago Chinese authorities already planned to allow Taiwanese doctors to se up a healthcare complex in Fujian Province. The plan did not materialize in the end, due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in China in mid-2003 and the opposition from the government in Taiwan.

Now, according to the Taiwan Medical Alliance Association, Taiwan has lost its favored position in terms of opportunities in China's healthcare market. The medical sectors of the United States, Japan and Germany have already made inroads in major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Nonetheless, Taiwan still has opportunities in second-tier Chinese cities that host a considerable number of Taiwanese businesspeople and their families.

Currently, there are no legally established Taiwanese hospitals in China to provide healthcare to hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese who live there. Many of these people choose to come back to Taiwan for treatment when they get sick.