Data-Driven Health Innovation in Hainan Free Trade Port: Tri-Medical Data Empowers AI Industry Development Conference Successfully Held

To further address the industry-wide challenges of medical data being “unavailable for supply, immobile in circulation, and underutilized in application,” and to promote the deep integration of healthcare data with artificial intelligence (AI) innovation, the event titled “Data Aggregation in the Free Trade Port, Smart Health for a New Future: Launch Conference on Empowering AI Innovation Industries with Healthcare Data” was successfully held on March 30 at the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone in Hainan. The conference was jointly organized by the Hainan Provincial Health Commission, the Administration Bureau of the Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone, and the Hainan Provincial Big Data Development Center.

The digital economy has become the core driving force behind the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation. President Xi Jinping has emphasized that the digital economy represents a strategic choice for seizing the new opportunities presented by this wave of technological and industrial change, and efforts must be made to strengthen, optimize, and expand the digital economy. The Hainan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Hainan Provincial People’s Government have proposed the strategy of “Strengthening Through Digitalization,” positioning data as a key factor in cultivating new quality productive forces and serving as an important engine for achieving high-quality development of the Hainan Free Trade Port, thereby providing solid guidance for digital innovation in the healthcare sector.

As a pioneering front in the reform of market-based allocation of medical data factors across China, the Hainan Free Trade Port has taken the lead in establishing the nation’s first “Three-Medical Big Data Center.” It is driving the compliant and efficient circulation of medical data elements through institutional innovation, thereby unlocking the new value of the Free Trade Port’s digital-intelligent health industry.

Director Li Wenxiu, Hainan Provincial Health CommissionEmphasizing the “bold exploration and experimentation” spirit of the Hainan Free Trade Port, Hainan is simultaneously advancing institutional frameworks for the development and utilization of health data, technical infrastructure for trusted data spaces in healthcare, medical insurance, and pharmaceuticals (the “Three Medicals”), mechanisms for authorized operation of health data, and ecosystem development for the data intelligence industry chain. Adhering to a dual-drive approach of institutions and technology, it aims to solidify the technical foundation of trusted data spaces. By highlighting mechanism innovation and ecosystem cultivation, it seeks to create high-value application scenarios in four key areas: artificial intelligence, new drug R&D, insurance services, and scientific research innovation. It also explores new models for data circulation and trading, such as high-quality dataset development and Data-as-a-Service (DaaS). Meanwhile, it firmly upholds the baseline of security and compliance, ensuring that data can be supplied, circulated, effectively utilized, and securely protected.

During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Hainan Province will steadfastly advance toward the goal of building a high-level international health island, addressing the contemporary challenges of reforming the factor-based allocation of medical and health data and accelerating the development of medical artificial intelligence, thereby establishing the “Hainan Model” and contributing innovative strength.

Deputy Director Fu Sheng, Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone AdministrationAs China’s only “Medical Special Zone,” Boao Lecheng has leveraged its preferential policy advantages to achieve the “first use in China” of more than 560 internationally innovative drugs and medical devices, benefiting over 250,000 patient visits. By capitalizing on its real-world data (RWD) research pathway, Lecheng has accelerated the domestic market approval of 24 innovative drug and device products, five of which have been successfully included in the National Reimbursement Drug List or commercial insurance formularies. Meanwhile, Lecheng has accumulated high-value, structured real-world data, providing unparalleled scenarios and data resources for exploring data empowerment and unlocking data value.

In July last year, the “Three-Medical Coordination” Trusted Data Space for internationally innovative drugs and medical devices, applied for by Boao Lecheng, was successfully selected as one of the first national pilot projects for the innovative development of trusted data spaces. This achievement secured a national-level “pioneer permit” for the compliant circulation of medical data and the release of the value of data elements in Hainan, while also creating a core platform to undertake the construction tasks of the National Comprehensive Pilot Zone for Data Elements. Currently, substantial breakthroughs have been made in the development of the trusted data space, initially establishing an open and mutually beneficial cooperative network for data ecology. By adopting a “small-scale, project-based” approach, the initiative has steadily advanced the circulation of data elements, accumulating replicable practical experience in areas such as data exploration, rule system construction, validation of payment models, and cross-regional collaboration.

Deputy Director Sun Jianming, Hainan Provincial Big Data Development CenterIt is noted that Hainan possesses unique advantages in advancing the aggregation, governance, development, and utilization of medical data. Since 2020, Hainan Province has launched the “One Network for Three-Medical Linkage” project, initiating innovative practices driven by data elements to promote collaborative governance among healthcare, medical insurance, and pharmaceutical services, and has established China’s first provincial-level information platform for three-medical linkage. Over the past six years, Hainan has undertaken pioneering nationwide initiatives, including formulating three-medical standards, aggregating three-medical data, delivering three-medical services, and exploring three-medical supervision, thereby preliminarily constructing a medical data sharing system that spans across administrative levels, regions, and departments.

Meanwhile, Hainan has been one of the national pilot provinces for the development and utilization of public data since 2020, and was included in the first batch of comprehensive pilot zones for data factors nationwide in 2024. It has established a sound institutional framework and operational mechanisms for leveraging public data, including medical data, to empower industrial development and social governance. Leveraging its institutional advantages in “safe and orderly cross-border data flows,” Hainan has achieved remarkable results in recent years in areas such as cross-border data transfers, overseas data processing and governance, and the global expansion of models and applications.

Professor Wu Jian from the School of Public Health at Zhejiang University, Tao Xiaodong, President of iFlytek Healthcare Technology Co., Ltd., Liu Shulin, Deputy General Manager of Hangzhou Iron & Steel Group, and Zhang Fan, Senior Vice President of Hangzhou Gupo Co., Ltd., took the stage in succession to share insights on topics such as AI in healthcare and the data industry chain.

Since 2020, Hainan Province has continuously deepened the coordinated reform of “three medical sectors” (medical care, health insurance, and pharmaceuticals). Under the strong leadership of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People’s Government, and with robust support from various departments, the Provincial Health Commission, in collaboration with multiple stakeholders, has established an integrated network for the linkage of the three medical sectors and fully completed data aggregation. Leveraging these substantial reform achievements, the Hainan Provincial Health Commission and the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone have been approved as key pilot sites by the National Data Administration for “High-Quality Datasets” and “Industry Trusted Data Spaces,” respectively, laying a solid foundation for the efficient utilization and secure circulation of three-medical-sector data. Currently, health data from these three sectors is demonstrating significant application potential in promoting biomedical innovation, accelerating new drug research and development, fostering medical artificial intelligence, and supporting the development of health insurance. In February 2025, the National Data Administration, together with other departments, jointly issued the “Opinions on Cultivating Data Circulation Service Institutions and Accelerating the Marketization and Value Realization of Data Elements,” which clarified the pathways and standards for data product development, circulation, trading, and value realization. The policy encourages diverse cooperation models such as data-for-data, data-for-models, and data-for-scenarios exchanges, providing strong policy support for the development and utilization of health data in Hainan.

Centered on the Hainan Provincial “Three-Medical Linkage” Integrated Platform, the National Data Bureau’s “Pilot Project for a Trusted Data Space for International Innovative Drugs and Medical Devices under ‘Three-Medical Coordination’,” and the “Pilot Project for High-Quality Datasets in Three-Medical Health,” this press conference brought together government leaders, industry experts, and representatives from leading enterprises. Focusing on core topics such as the factor-based development of three-medical health data, the application of multimodal large medical models, and the construction of medical AI agents, the event featured product launches, cooperation signings, and other activities. It established a high-quality platform for exchange and collaboration among industries including three-medical health data, artificial intelligence, health insurance, and drug R&D, helping attendees accurately seize the timely opportunities presented by medical data reform and three-medical health development in the Hainan Free Trade Port.

The event not only saw the official launch of Hainan Province’s “Ye Xiao Yi” and its series of medical AI agents, as well as the signing of cooperation agreements for the first batch of health data products, but also featured the unveiling ceremony of the Graduate Internship Base of the School of Public Health at Zhejiang University (Hainan Provincial Medical, Pharmaceutical, and Healthcare Big Data Center). This marks a critical step forward in Hainan’s efforts to foster new quality productive forces through data elements and drive the digital transformation of healthcare within the Free Trade Port.

As a benchmark project of Hainan’s “Contracted Services with Tangible Impact” initiative for family doctors,“Yexiao Yi” Digital Intelligence Family Doctor Platform, jointly developed by the Health Commission of Hainan Province and iFlytek MedicalClosely aligned with the “Healthy Hainan” strategy, the platform aims to address key pain points in current grassroots family doctor contracted services, such as “signed but not serviced,” imperceptible service delivery, excessive administrative burdens on primary care physicians, and insufficient precision in health management. Centered on the iFlytek Spark Medical Large Language Model, the platform integrates data across the “three-medical” linkage system (medical care, health insurance, and pharmaceuticals) to establish a dual-framework system: a resident health assistant that “understands medicine and you better,” and a “clinically professional-grade” family doctor assistant. Residents can later access the platform via the “Haiyiban” APP with one-click entry, enjoying 24/7 full-cycle health services including symptom self-checks and medication consultations. Meanwhile, it alleviates the workload of grassroots physicians by intelligently generating work logs and reminding them of follow-up obligations, thereby assisting in improving service efficiency and quality. Its launch marks a new phase of large-scale application for “AI + Healthcare” in the Hainan Free Trade Port, providing a replicable and scalable “Hainan model” for enhancing and upgrading family doctor contracted services nationwide.

During the event, Hainan Provincial People’s Hospital and iFlytek Healthcare signed a strategic cooperation agreement on “Artificial Intelligence + Future Hospitals,” and an agreement was signed on collaboration regarding the infrastructure and factor-oriented development of healthcare data across medical services, health insurance, and pharmaceuticals. The Research Project on Ethics and Regulatory Systems for Digital Physicians was launched. Furthermore, Hainan Provincial People’s Hospital, the First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Hainan Hospital of Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, the Provincial Women and Children’s Medical Center, the Provincial Cancer Hospital, along with enterprises such as iFlytek Healthcare and Yidu Cloud, jointly released the Hainan Healthcare Intelligent Agent to support the intelligent transformation of healthcare in Hainan Province. This series of initiatives marks solid progress by Hainan in promoting the deep integration of artificial intelligence technologies with medical services, improving the digital health industry ecosystem, and standardizing the development of digital healthcare. These efforts represent important practices in building the “Future Hospital” model in Hainan and facilitating the high-quality development of the digital health industry within the Hainan Free Trade Port. They also demonstrate Hainan’s responsibility and commitment, as a forefront of reform and opening-up, to uphold the principle of “people-centeredness and beneficial AI” while enhancing industry governance systems amidst technological innovation.

The signing of the first batch of health data product cooperation agreements is a vivid demonstration of Hainan’s implementation of the principle of combining an “efficient market” with a “capable government.” Building on this new starting point, Hainan will continue to promote the deep integration of medical, pharmaceutical, and health insurance (“Three-Medical”) health data with artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on three key areas: First, unlocking the value of data elements by centering on data elementization and the “AI+” initiative, fostering deep integration between AI and healthcare, and achieving dual-driven development of medical services and the health industry through high-quality data resources. Second, leveraging the advantages of the Free Trade Port by deepening institutional integrated innovation in the health sector, removing bottlenecks in data circulation, establishing a collaborative mechanism of “institutional innovation + demand-driven orientation + technological empowerment,” and creating high-value application scenarios covering research and development, clinical practice, regulation, and insurance. Third, adhering strictly to safety and compliance baselines by integrating data security and privacy protection throughout the entire process of data supply, circulation, and usage, refining data security governance rules, and ensuring that data can be “supplied, circulated, utilized effectively, and securely safeguarded.”

This conference and the release of its outcomes represent not only Hainan Province’s concrete actions to implement the national “15th Five-Year Plan” and the requirements for the construction of the Free Trade Port, but also a significant milestone in the integrated development of medical, pharmaceutical, and health data with artificial intelligence in our province. It has successfully established an important platform for collaborative cooperation among government, industry, academia, research, and application, thereby consolidating strong synergies for industrial development. Moving forward, Hainan will take this launch event as an opportunity to thoroughly implement the decisions and deployments of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People’s Government, accelerate the development of medical, pharmaceutical, and health data as production factors, deepen the application of artificial intelligence technologies in the healthcare sector, and continuously improve the industrial chain, supply chain, and innovation chain. These efforts will steadily propel our province’s healthcare industry toward digitalization, intelligentization, and high-quality development. In the future, Hainan will continue to leverage the policy and institutional advantages of the Free Trade Port, with medical, pharmaceutical, and health data as the core support and medical artificial intelligence as the key driver for innovation. We will strive to resolve challenges in the circulation and utilization of data elements, fully promote the high-quality development of healthcare services, and inject robust momentum into the construction of a high-level international demonstration hub for health.

Li Wenxiu, Director of the Hainan Provincial Health Commission; Fu Sheng, Deputy Director of the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone Administration; Li Weihua, Deputy Director of the Hainan Provincial Healthcare Security Administration; Ji Tiejun, Director of the Hainan Provincial Drug Administration; Sun Jianming, Deputy Director of the Hainan Provincial Big Data Development Center; Tao Yijin, Deputy Director of the Data Division of the Hainan Provincial Development and Reform Commission; Luo Hongqiang, Director of the Comprehensive Supervision Division of the Hainan Provincial Disease Control and Prevention Bureau; Ma Zhijian, Party Secretary of Hainan General Hospital; and Zhang Jun, President of Hainan General Hospital, attended the meeting.