Medicine & Healthcare

en.hainan.gov.cn

Updated: 2025-06-27

A view of the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone in Boao, South China's Hainan province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Hainan is reaping dividends from a range of preferential policies granted by the State Council, including expedited import facilitation for urgently needed drugs and the implementation of public hospital franchise management. These policies have significantly streamlined the import and approval of critical medical products, injecting vitality to development of medical institutions.

As of April 2025, 36 medical institutions were operational within the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone in Boao, Hainan province. In 2024, Hainan welcomed more than 410,000 medical tourists, marking a year-on-year uptick of 35.74 percent.

Progress in easing healthcare market access

In 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce introduced seven innovative measures to relax market access in the medicine and healthcare sector in the Hainan Free Trade Port. The seven measures are launching an online e-prescription platform for medication purchases, promoting innovation in high-end medical equipment, facilitating pharmaceutical market access, comprehensively relaxing entry barriers for contract research organizations (CROs), supporting high-end medical aesthetics, improving the entry and development environment for transplantation sector, and establishing a mixed reform fund to boost Hainan's medicine and healthcare industry.

Lecheng : A medical tourism leader

The Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone has achieved remarkable progress through pioneering policies like "first-in-trial" approvals. As China's only special medical zone, it has introduced over 450 overseas-developed innovative drugs and medical devices not yet available elsewhere in China. The zone's 36 specialized medical institutions attracted 413,700 medical tourists in 2024, representing a 36.76 percent year-on-year increase, while providing patients access to advanced international treatments domestically. This successful model has established Lecheng as both a regional medical tourism hub and a key component of China's dual circulation strategy in healthcare.

Preferential Policies

Focus	Policy
Market Access	Easing market access on all fronts for CROs
Medical Finance	Encouraging healthcare and long-term nursing-related commercial insurances and supporting various kinds of pension finance to relax restrictions on the entry of CROs
License Approval	Expediting the approval of drug manufacturing licenses for research institutions, and relaxing restrictions on CROs
Zero Tariffs for Production Equipment	Exempting tariffs, import value-added tax, and consumption tax on production equipment imported for self-use
Tariff Exemption of Products with Added-Value	Goods with an added value of 30 percent or more from processing imported materials are exempt from import tariffs when entering the mainland.
Corporate Income Tax Relief	Medical enterprises with a proven operational track record in Hainan qualify for a reduced corporate tax rate of 15 percent. High-tech enterprises are eligible for corporate tax exemption on income from new overseas direct investments.
Individual Income Tax Relief	Qualified talent whose individual income tax rate exceeds 15 percent of their taxable income are exempt from paying the excess amount.

Industrial opportunities

Policies boost rapid growth

Piloting digital healthcare is one of the major tasks for Hainan during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25). On February 18, 2022, the first digital healthcare innovation base was established in the Hainan FTP.

Emerging industrial clusters lay a strong foundation

Hainan has implemented several action plans designed to attract a greater number of companies, especially prominent ones from both domestic and international markets, to enhance the development of new drugs and equipment, and to foster new types of businesses. These plans have laid a solid foundation for building a national biomedical industry platform and forming robust biomedical industry clusters.

A hub for innovation and talent

Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone has become a new hub for medical innovation and talent, thanks to its superior medical resources, loosened CRO access regulations, and supportive real-world clinical study policies. On December 18, 2021, the Ruijin-Hainan Hospital affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (Boao Research Hospital) was put into trial operations in the zone.

New drives for traditional Chinese medicine

Hainan is committed to promoting the innovation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), strengthening the capabilities of medical education institutions and TCM institutions to cultivate international TCM talent. TCM-based service is a newly encouraged industry category in Hainan FTP.

Key Areas

High-end medical services

Internationally renowned hospitals

International health examination

Digital healthcare

Rehabilitation

TCM manufacturing

TCM healthcare

International innovative medicine and medical devices

Medical researches

Clinic tests and treatments

Source: Hainan Provincial Bureau of International Economic Development