Shanghai Huicheng Files IPO Prospectus: A Pioneer in Holistic Mental and Physical Health Solutions with 28 Years of Expertise
Currently, China is in a period of social transition. With the accelerating pace of life and intensifying social competition, psychological stress among the population has increased, making mental health issues increasingly prominent.
The “2023 Blue Book on Mental Health in China” reveals that the detection rate for depression risk among adults in China is 10.6%, and the detection rate for anxiety risk is 15.8%. Only 36% of Chinese citizens consider their mental health to be good. Among those who self-assessed their mental health as “poor,” the detection rate for depression risk reached as high as 45.1%.
Behavioral and emotional changes stemming from psychological factors can induce physiological alterations in the nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, and digestive systems, ultimately leading to the development of disease. Conversely, deteriorating physical health may exacerbate mental health issues, potentially creating a vicious cycle of mutual influence between psychological and physiological well-being.
In this field, VCBeat has taken note of Shanghai Huicheng, a company that has been deeply engaged in the physical and mental health sector for nearly 30 years.
Shanghai Huicheng, established in 1996, is a leading Chinese technology enterprise specializing in the research and application of mind-body health technologies. The company is committed to rapidly alleviating physical and psychological issues through intelligent mind-body devices and pure physical intervention methods. It focuses on the research and development of core technologies related to physiology, psychology, behavior, pain relief, and sleep aid within the broader health sector, as well as on independent innovation in data algorithm models and wearable smart devices.As a high-tech enterprise honored with the title of “Specialized, Refined, Differential, and Innovative” (SRDI) Little Giant, Shanghai Huicheng holds over 150 patents and software copyrights, having achieved international leadership in wearable monitoring technology and brainwave audio enhancement technology.
The company not only maintains long-term collaborations with numerous experts and research institutes in China, but has also engaged in multi-faceted partnerships with leading medical institutions such as the Chinese PLA General Hospital (301 Hospital) in Beijing and Huadong Hospital. It provides systematic, closed-loop solutions for physical and mental well-being to clients across multiple sectors in China, including public security, procuratorates, courts, judicial administrations, the military, healthcare, sports, education, railways, enterprises, elderly care, and internet health.
Er Kun, Founder and Chief Product Designer of Shanghai Huicheng, is the creator of China’s first Windows-based psychometric software and has been deeply engaged in the field of physical and mental health diagnosis and treatment for nearly 30 years.“Psychotherapy relies primarily on talk therapy, depending heavily on human experience and communication, with almost no other tools or equipment available.” Recognizing this pain point, Er Kun, who has a medical education background and is a former university professor, led his team in developing a range of hardware and software solutions for psychotherapy. These innovations provide additional tools and methods for psychological treatment, subsequently prompting imitation by multiple manufacturers.
“When I developed a psychometric software, I found that many companies were imitating me, so I shifted to hardware development. Later, many companies began to imitate my hardware as well,”Er Kun stated that he did not feel distressed when his work was imitated at the time; on the contrary, he was delighted. This sentiment stemmed partly from the fact that his unintentional efforts had borne fruit, giving rise to an entirely new industry: “psychological equipment.” Furthermore, under Er Kun’s leadership, Shanghai Huicheng has mastered the underlying logic behind these software and hardware solutions. This core competitive advantage ensures that the company remains unconcerned about being imitated or surpassed.“For example, we are currently developing a diagnostic technology for Alzheimer’s disease that monitors changes in memory, emotion, and brain function through autonomic nervous system assessment. The accuracy has reached 90% in our current small-scale internal trials,” said Er Kun.
Regarding the reasons behind Shanghai Huicheng’s entry into the psychology industry, Er Kun stated that initially, the company applied a comprehensive suite of psychological assessment software to corporate talent selection, providing talent evaluation services to clients such as Sony, DHL, Roche Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Schering-Plough, SAIC Motor, and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. Soon thereafter, medical institutions and hospitals approached Shanghai Huicheng, seeking to replace certain manual hospital workflows with its software-based technical solutions. Recognizing the broad application potential of its technology across the healthcare sector, Shanghai Huicheng discontinued its corporate talent assessment offerings in 2002 and formally transitioned into providing healthcare services in the fields of psychology and psychiatry.“Therefore, 20 years ago, nearly all psychological assessment software used in pediatric psychology clinics and psychiatric clinics across China was developed by our company,” introduced Er Kun. Currently, the company has developed nearly 100 types of software in the field of physical and mental health.
Regarding the company’s industry positioning, Er Kun stated that Shanghai Huicheng possesses three unique advantages. First, it has transferred the technical logic used in corporate talent selection to the field of mental health, applying it across multiple scenarios such as screening and follow-up. Second, it has accumulated over 20 years of expertise in music therapy and other known auditory stimulation-based intervention technologies. Third, in terms of detection, the company’s wearable products leverage HRV (Heart Rate Variability) technology to measure hundreds of parameters, covering various risks related to psychological, behavioral, general health, and disease factors.
Empowered by these unique advantages, Shanghai Huicheng has also achieved many notable accomplishments. Around 2010, there were frequent incidents of employees jumping from buildings at Foxconn in Shenzhen.Following the implementation of Shanghai Huicheng’s psychological intervention solutions, multiple suicide incidents were averted within that month.; During the 2009 National Day military parade, Shanghai Huicheng provided five sets of mind-body feedback and stress-relief relaxation devices, which were in high demand and received unanimous acclaim from officers and soldiers. Furthermore, Shanghai Huicheng supplied intelligent equipment and related services to provide professional mind-body support for the Shenzhou-9 astronauts in 2012, participants in the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, athletes at the 2012 London Olympics, and competitors in the 26th Summer Universiade. In addition,Shanghai Huicheng is also a listed enterprise in the Zhongguancun Military-Civil Fusion initiative.
Shanghai Huicheng’s Products and Technologies Have a Wide Range of Application Scenarios
Leveraging its achievements and accumulated expertise in psychology, Shanghai Huicheng has expanded into the fields of psychocardiology and psychosomatic medicine, focusing on the interplay between mental and physical health. “We aim to distill our 20-plus years of experience into a systematic framework to address a broader range of psychosomatic issues, integrating standalone software, hardware, data platforms, and analytical models into a closed-loop application ecosystem,” said Er Kun.
Furthermore, the company has always placed R&D and innovation at the highest priority.Currently, Shanghai Huicheng has consistently maintained a technical workforce comprising more than one-third and approaching half of its total staff, covering 23 disciplines.From software and hardware R&D to intelligent IoT, and further expanding into healthcare scenarios to form a comprehensive solution ecosystem, Shanghai Huicheng has achieved numerous breakthroughs from 0 to 1 and from 1 to 10.
Currently, Shanghai Huicheng has established three major technical systems: mind-body monitoring, audio-based intervention, and long-term data follow-up.
Among them,Mind-body monitoring technology features two core functions: real-time status monitoring and health risk early warning. It encompasses four key domains—psychological, behavioral, health, and disease—and has currently established unique technical barriers in the dimensions of detection and assessment.This technology uses HRV as its core foundation. As early as 2004, the American Diabetes Association recognized HRV technology as an auxiliary diagnostic tool with significant clinical reference value. However, few domestic enterprises had ventured into this field until Er Kun led Shanghai Huicheng to fill this gap by commercializing the technology. Meanwhile, leveraging multidisciplinary expertise, the team rapidly extracted key data features, built models, and conducted experimental validations, thereby establishing Shanghai Huicheng’s proprietary assessment methodology.
Specifically, mind-body monitoring technologies can accurately assess states such as cognitive activity, emotional status, mental fatigue, visual fatigue, drowsiness levels, self-control, and mental demeanor. Meanwhile, health risk early warning systems can predict various health risks, including those related to mental health, cardiac health, personality traits affecting health, unhealthy behavioral habits, sleep-related health risks, and early signs of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and endocrine risks.
In terms of audio enhancement, Shanghai Huicheng has integrated various music genres, including Five-Element Music, white noise, Binaural Beats Therapy (BBT), Isochronous Beat Therapy (IBT), Monaural Beat Therapy (MBT), singing bowls, and ASMR.Er Kun pointed out that this is highly rare within the industry, as most other music therapy approaches typically adhere to a single school of thought. Through nearly two decades of research into music therapy, Er Kun has led Shanghai Huicheng in deciphering the underlying logic of existing schools on the market and integrating them across eras and national boundaries. From Five-Element Music, which originated in China thousands of years ago, to the latest international research findings derived from literature and experimental data, Shanghai Huicheng has combined these elements into a scientifically formulated “recipe.” Furthermore, by employing panoramic sound technology alongside its proprietary special stimulation methods, Shanghai Huicheng achieves composite stimulation.
Audio-based improvement is divided into two major functions: rapid relief and long-term conditioning. The former offers specific benefits such as alleviating headaches/migraines, relieving shoulder and neck pain/chronic pain, facilitating quick sleep onset, easing anxiety, improving depression, and promoting stress reduction and relaxation. The latter focuses primarily on sleep regulation and female endocrine conditioning.Notably, these functional audio tracks are independently developed and created by Shanghai Huicheng, which holds full intellectual property rights to them.
Long-term data follow-up technology features chronic disease follow-up and monitoring capabilities, enabling 24/7 real-time monitoring and multimodal analysis., many indicators are refreshed every ten seconds. Multi-dimensional metrics can be monitored via wearable wristwatches to assess changes in disease status, providing precise data support for combination medication and adjustment of treatment plans.
Empowered by three core technologies, Shanghai Huicheng has established three innovative product technology systems, including the Huicheng Cloud Data Platform, cross-platform applications for personal mobile terminals, and smart wearable devices along with associated hardware and software equipment.Currently, Shanghai Huicheng has developed the aforementioned product technology framework into standardized and domestically produced systems in response to industry needs. The former is suitable for overseas markets, while the latter is designed to meet the application requirements of specialized sectors such as education, the military, and public security.
Shanghai Huicheng Physical and Mental Health Application Products
According to Er Kun, the advantages of Shanghai Huicheng’s product portfolio can be summarized as “diverse, fast, high-quality, cost-effective, user-friendly, and comprehensive.”Among these, the four major advantages of “multifunctionality,” “affordability,” “online-to-offline integration,” and “open interoperability” are particularly prominent. First, the system integrates a single testing device capable of performing dozens of functions. Second, most of Shanghai Huicheng’s products do not rely on specialized hardware, thereby reducing costs for patients. Testing, intervention, and treatment can be completed entirely through software, typically utilizing widely accessible portable devices such as smartphones and headphones.
Shanghai Huicheng Digital Intelligence Medical/Health Innovation Application System
As a leading enterprise in the field of physical and mental health diagnosis and treatment, Shanghai Huicheng has participated in the formulation of multiple industry standards.In March 2018, the physical and mental health protection standards for EMU drivers, formulated with the company’s assistance, were officially released by China Railway Corporation; in February 2020, the locomotive crew sleep monitoring and non-intrusive call-out management system, jointly developed by the company and China Railway Guangzhou Group, passed the scientific and technological achievement appraisal; in June 2022, the company, together with more than ten entities including Aviation Industry Supply & Marketing Northwest Co., Ltd., Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Logistics Group Co., Ltd., and Qinghai Tianmei General Aviation Co., Ltd., jointly established group standards for driver sleep fatigue monitoring. Meanwhile, Shanghai Huicheng participated in the formulation of provincial-level standards for psychological health education equipment and counseling room construction in Shanghai, Shandong, Shanxi, Guangxi, Henan, Ningxia, Xinjiang, and other regions.
Currently, Shanghai Huicheng serves individuals across all age groups—including children, middle-aged adults, and the elderly—as well as special populations. It provides preventive, healthcare, regulatory, and rehabilitation services addressing psychological, behavioral, health, and disease-related issues, covering nearly all clinical specialties in hospitals as well as pre-hospital, in-hospital, and post-hospital care scenarios.
From the perspective of segmented application scenarios, Shanghai Huicheng’s product portfolio can serve as a supplement to medical standardization and as part of combination therapy regimens within the industry. Specifically, it encompasses the following four typical application scenarios.
First, lightweight operational applications.Shanghai Huicheng has established a “Testing/Monitoring + Light-Operation Improvement” system, offering health service solutions that are more accessible, cost-effective, and popular among the general public. Committed to helping the broader population address various health issues, the company leverages software and artificial intelligence technologies to empower individuals in self-managing their health, thereby promoting equitable access to medical resources.
Second, Systematic Online-to-Offline Solutions, integrating software and wearable devices to establish an online-to-offline closed-loop system for addressing health issues. A typical example is the Sleep Efficacy Restoration System, jointly developed by the Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital and Shanghai Huicheng. This system integrates big data, wearable devices, artificial intelligence, innovative functional brainwave audio technology, and intelligent AI-sensing biotechnology. It comprises three main components: the Sleep Efficacy Restoration Pod, the Daily Health Application System, and the Daily Health Management System. It can effectively intervene in sleep, emotions, behavior, and lifestyle. Since its launch two years ago,The overall effective rate of the intervention was higher than 70%.
Sleep Efficacy Restoration System, Jointly Developed by the Chinese PLA General Hospital and Shanghai Huicheng
Third, Systematic Application of the Platform, committed to building a comprehensive holistic health and wellness service system. At the “2024 Third Medical-Wellness-Tourism Industry Innovation and Development Forum” held during the Shanghai Travel Expo, the Guizhou Provincial Wellness Industry Chamber of Commerce, China Railway Cultural Tourism Group Guiyang Investment Development Co., Ltd., and Shanghai Huicheng signed the strategic cooperation agreement titled “Jointly Building the Guiyang Qingyan Health Town Holistic Health and Wellness Demonstration Base,” aiming to establish a nationally leading demonstration base for holistic health and wellness. As the provider of product technology and solution frameworks empowering this collaboration, Shanghai Huicheng leverages technology to drive early screening, monitoring, prevention, post-treatment and post-operative rehabilitation, and prognosis management, thereby making wellness services more diversified and personalized. Additionally, Shanghai Huicheng can deliver technology-enabled solutions tailored to different scenarios and user needs, precisely monitor and assess clients’ health status, and provide targeted wellness plans. This approach not only meets offline experience demands but also extends online 24/7 lightweight services to reach users.
Guizhou Health and Wellness Industry Chamber of Commerce, China Railway Cultural Tourism Group, and Shanghai Huicheng Sign Agreement to Jointly Establish a Physical and Mental Health Demonstration Base
Fourth, Application of Specific Technologies, providing differentiated services tailored to specific application scenarios and the unique needs of particular populations, such as digital-intelligent monitoring and intervention for depression, and status monitoring for children with autism.
Regarding future development, Er Kun stated that Shanghai Huicheng aspires to become the technology provider behind other companies in the industry, helping them rapidly deploy their products and solutions into practical applications. “While Huicheng’s involvement may not be visible on the surface, in reality, Huicheng has ‘multiplied itself countless times’ to propel the growth of these enterprises.”
As early as 2017, Shanghai Huicheng positioned its corporate strategic goal as “refined operation centered on R&D and led by strategic partners.” Er Kun stated that, given the broad applicability and wide scope of Shanghai Huicheng’s technological system, greater resources are required to facilitate the practical application and implementation of these technologies.Our company’s technical platform is now well-established; the next step is to further refine and enhance it, and apply it to a broader range of niche scenarios. We seek to collaborate with enterprises that possess corresponding resources and funding, identify more like-minded partners within the industry, and jointly promote the development of China’s physical and mental health diagnosis and treatment sector.