Wudang district moves to expand healthcare sector

Since the beginning of this year, Wudang district in Guiyang, Southwest China's Guizhou province, has made the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), chemical medicine, bio-medicine and medical equipment industries as its top priority, with an aim to become a new hub for the province's healthcare sector. 

In the first half of 2021, Wudang recorded industrial added value growth of 23.8 percent for enterprises above a designated size – businesses with annual sales of 20 million ($3.1 million) or more – ranking it second in Guiyang. 

That figure was regarded as being revealing in that it reflected Wudang's solid progress towards new industrialization, with the quality and quantity of industrial products being addressed at the same time. 

A launch ceremony for major industrial projects in the district was held on July 26 in the Guizhou TCM and Medical Equipment Industrial Park. The event reportedly pointed the way for future endeavors by Wudang in new industrialization, new urbanization, modern agriculture and tourism. 

The aim is to expand the scale of efficient investment, promote the construction of industrial projects and boost Wudang's economic performance. 

The government in the district has been giving full play to the abundant herb resources of the region and the sound foundation established by Wudang's TCM industry – relying on its status as Guizhou's healthcare sector demonstration area to attract more healthcare businesses. 

Since the end of 2020, the government has sent delegations on fact-finding tours of Suzhou, Taizhou, Shanghai, Zhuhai, Chongqing and Bozhou to learn about the development of the TCM market, the drugs industry and the operations as well as management of healthcare industry parks. 

The Guizhou TCM and Medical Equipment Industrial Park incorporates three of Wudang's towns, occupying a total area of 40 square kilometers, with a gross investment of 50 billion yuan. The construction of the park spans 10 years and Zhongnan Holdings Group Co is the group mainly responsible for bringing in top medical brands and industrial resources, to establish a new eco-healthcare city led by the TCM industry. 

Wudang is currently also pursuing the integration of the fitness sector – using a number of  intelligent approaches, such as big data, AI, IoT and medical robots.