Unmet healthcare demand in Asia presents Chinese hospital operators with opportunities
Fosun Health is targeting medical tourists from South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, CEO Frank Hu Hang says
Driven by accelerating healthcare demand, Fosun Health plans to target markets in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East to capitalise on their economic growth and fragmented health systems, according to chairman and CEO Frank Hu Hang.
The subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) operates 19 hospitals, clinics and third-party diagnostics centres in mainland China. Four of these are in Foshan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai – cities that are part of the Greater Bay Area that includes Hong Kong, Macau, Dongguan, Huizhou, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing and Zhongshan.
“We genuinely see that there is significant unmet demand in the international medical markets in the post-Covid-19 era,” Hu said in an interview. “Our goal is to position ourselves as a viable solution for patients whose needs cannot be fully met locally.”
While medical tourism is currently concentrated in Singapore and Thailand, Fosun wants to corner a share of the market, attracting overseas patients to China, especially to the Greater Bay Area.
Hu said Indonesia faced a shortage of health professionals, with just 0.6 doctors for every 1,000 people. According to a 2024 report from PwC, this ratio ranged between 2.4 and 3.8 in the mainland’s nine Greater Bay Area cities.
“We are actively promoting Fosun’s medical standards overseas to demonstrate our superior treatment capabilities,” said Hu.