According to a recent pilot announcement, China is going to establish seven wholly foreign owned hospitals in three cities (Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai) and four provinces (Jiangsu, Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan).Opening the services sector to foreign investment is part of the national strategy to create more jobs and upgrade the export- and investment-reliant economy. Moreover, inviting more private players into the sector would also ease bottlenecks in medical resources, which are causing rising conflict between doctors and patients. Even though private health care is still a relatively small proportion of health care services in China, as the government remains a main provider, privatization is a good opportunity for foreign and private players, while the reform would allow some people to more easily access medical services. The first liberalization of physician rights to practice outside of public hospital settings was tested in 1989. According to the Health Statistics Yearbook and 2008 Ministry of Commerce “China Service Economy Development Report”, at the end of 2011 there were less than 100 foreign invested hospitals in China. Beijing first lifted the restrictions on foreign investment in private hospitals in 2012 as part of plans to raise the proportion of privately funded hospital beds from just 8% to 20% by 2015.Many foreign investors have been waiting for more flexible and transparent rules to take shape, and the latest announcement by the State Council seems to answer their requests. Foreign ownership caps for providers have been raised to 70%, while investors can now establish 100% foreign-owned private hospitals in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. The regulations governing foreign health care investment are still developing, but seem like they are shifting the focus and responsibility of the health care development even more sub-national levels. This means that it is going to be more important than ever to think locally when working with Chinese investment. For special administrative regions in central and western China, in particular, being aware of local conditions, goals and investment hurdles will be critical to success. The gLAWcal Team LIBEAC project Monday, November 10, 2014 (Source: Healthintelasia.com)