Precision Health Screening Gains Popularity Among China's 'New Middle Class': What Makes It Stand Out?

Mr. Chen, a 32-year-old executive at a new materials company, frequently engages in social business engagements and has a long history of alcohol consumption. With a family history of gastric cancer—having lost a relative to the disease—and an irregular lifestyle driven by a fast-paced routine, he places particular emphasis on his health and undergoes annual medical check-ups abroad.

In 2020, unable to travel abroad due to the pandemic, Mr. Chen opted for a comprehensive health screening at the Ping An Health (Diagnostic) Center. The results were startling. Six months prior, he had frequently experienced nausea, abdominal bloating, and loss of appetite, which he had attributed to minor gastric discomfort. However, through precise PET/CT imaging and expert multidisciplinary consultation, he was ultimately diagnosed with early-stage liver cancer.

Mr. Chen was baffled: why had he developed liver cancer when every physical examination had shown normal liver function? The answer lies in the liver’s powerful compensatory capacity. As long as one-third of hepatocytes remain functional, hepatic metabolism will not exhibit abnormalities. Conventional liver function tests only indirectly reflect the organ’s functional status and cannot fully capture morphological changes. Consequently, they are insufficient for comprehensively assessing conditions such as cirrhosis or cancer.Additional advanced imaging studies are required.

It was this comprehensive health screening that enabled Mr. Chen to identify potential health risks, allowing for timely early intervention and effective control of disease progression. Since then, he has been recommending comprehensive health screenings to everyone, emphasizing that good health is the foundation of all endeavors.

Mr. Chen’s case is not an isolated incident at the Ping An Health (Testing) Center. In China, with the rapid development of new economies such as the internet and new energy, the rate of wealth creation among younger demographics has accelerated, andThe Emergence of the “New Middle Class”. Relevant reports indicate that among high-net-worth individuals under the age of 40, the proportion of newly affluent individuals rose from 29% in 2019 to 42% in 2021, making them a core pillar of the high-net-worth population.

For the “new middle class,” busy work schedules, fast-paced lifestyles, and high stress levels are highly prevalent. The growing proportion of younger individuals within this demographic has further strengthened their willingness to engage in health management. Statistics show that demand for access to and services from high-end medical resources, both domestically and abroad, is on the rise. Each year, more than 350,000 people travel overseas for medical check-ups, with per-person examination costs ranging from RMB 20,000 to RMB 50,000.

“The New Middle Class” places significant emphasis on health management, as is evident. However, can blind adherence to health screenings, along with overly complex check-up items and procedures, truly “buy” good health?

Against the backdrop of the “comprehensive, full-lifecycle health services” mandate outlined in the 14th Five-Year Plan, characterized by a younger demographic, higher educational attainment, and intergenerational industrial upgrading“The new middle class” has raised higher demands and standards for services in the tertiary sector, such as wealth preservation and appreciation, as well as health management.

“Health + Finance”New management models are emerging. For example, the collaboration between Ping An Health (Check-up) Center and Ping An Bank’s Private Banking divisionYoupin Select, incorporating health check-ups as an enhancement module for the health management services offered to high-net-worth private banking clients, with 19 health check-up packages available.

Many high-net-worth clients of private banking are also"Family Health Steward", serves as the organizer, guide, influencer, and decision-maker in family health management. They possess health risk awareness and learning capabilities, value relatively advanced health concepts, and are courageous in practicing a healthy lifestyle.

For instance, full-time homemakers in high-net-worth families, with an average age of 36, are responsible for establishing health records for family members, scheduling appointments, conducting online consultations, and purchasing health insurance.They require the support of professional service institutions and place great emphasis on humanized medical services.

For Ms. Xu, the greatest crisis in life is nothing other than health issues arising among her family members. As the matriarch of a seven-member household structured under the “4-2-1” model, she capitalized on the short-video boom over the past two years to accumulate wealth before returning home to become a full-time homemaker. Currently, safeguarding her family’s health has become her most important “job responsibility.” After extensive price comparisons and careful screening, Ms. Xu ultimately selected the Premium Selection Package offered by Ping An Bank’s Private Banking division. The professional, convenient, and comprehensive one-stop precision health checkup immediately earned her trust, leading her to purchase the same product for other family members as well.

The role of the home as the primary setting for health management is becoming increasingly prominent.Ping An Health (Check-up) Center provides one-on-one customized services for health management in home settings, analyzing the risk of disease among family members based on factors such as gender, age, physical condition, social stress, and lifestyle habits, thereby enabling comprehensive management of health risk factors.

In the future, the Center will also deepen its collaboration with Ping An Bank’s Private Banking division in more scenarios such as “Family Health Check-up Day.” This initiative aims to optimize the high-end customer service system and lay a solid foundation for business expansion among high-net-worth clients.

Reports indicate that the majority of the “new middle class” are employed in emerging industries such as biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, electric vehicles, online education, and healthcare services. Possessing broad perspectives and rich life experiences, this group demonstrates a demand for health management that exhibitsSpecialization, Integration, Differentiationcharacteristics.

“Healthcare + Finance” cross-industry collaboration is a win-win model.Ping An Health (Check-up) Center’s collaboration with Ping An Bank Private Banking integrates resources from both parties, combining clients’ asset management needs with their health management requirements to deliver more integrated professional services and enhance the stickiness of the private banking client base.

It is reported that 15%-20% of Ping An Group’s new retail financial services customers annually originate from its healthcare ecosystem; moreover, customers within this healthcare ecosystem hold assets worth 2.3 times and possess 1.5 times the number of financial products compared to regular customers.

“The new middle class” places the greatest emphasis on the professionalism of medical institutions,Including advanced medical equipment and concepts, abundant resources of renowned physicians, and humanized management and services.

The PET/CT systems installed at Ping An Health (Check-up) Centers, often referred to as “powerful tools for tumor diagnosis,” can detect tumors as small as a few millimeters hidden within the body, playing a pivotal role in cancer diagnosis. In addition, research-grade medical equipment such as 256-slice low-dose spiral CT and 3.0T MRI scanners helps clients identify and rule out potential health risks—often described as “ticking time bombs”—at an early stage. This enables earlier intervention in cancer treatment, significantly improving clinical outcomes, survival rates, and quality of life for patients.

Second is integration.Routine health checkups do not include the treatment phase and lack professional data interpretation of the examination reports. In contrast, Ping An Health (Check-up) Center tailors its services based on patients’ needs and physical conditions.Customized Health Checkup Plans, One-on-One Report Interpretation, One-Stop Full-Process Examination, and Multi-Disciplinary Expert Consultations, ensuring a complete end-to-end process by establishing a closed-loop medical service system encompassing “examination–interpretation–consultation.”

Finally, differentiation.“The New Middle Class” is increasingly health-conscious, recognizing that premium healthcare services should be exclusive and differentiated, and they are more willing to pay extra for advanced medical service concepts. In addition to high-end health screening items such as cranial MRA angiography, non-invasive colorectal cancer testing, magnetically controlled capsule gastroscopy, and tumor marker detection, Ping An Health (Check-up) Center also offers comprehensive and precise examination services provided by professional specialists, including nutritionists, psychological counselors, and exercise management experts.

It is often said that health is the leading “1,” while wealth consists of the zeros that follow; only with a healthy body can one create greater wealth. Leveraging professional, high-precision diagnostic methods to enable early prevention, early detection, and early treatment of diseases demonstrates responsibility for one’s own and one’s family’s health—and truly embodies the purpose of creating wealth.