WeDoctor to Establish Digital Health Ecosystem in Tianjin Amid City's Heavy Bet on Digital Economy

On November 12, the Tianjin Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Tianjin Municipal People’s Government convened the 2019 Tianjin·China Entrepreneurs Conference. Li Hongzhong, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Tianjin Municipal Committee of the CPC, attended the conference and delivered a speech. The event brought together one thousand entrepreneurs and representatives from various industry associations and chambers of commerce in Tianjin. The conference emphasized that Tianjin would vigorously improve its business environment by acting as a dedicated “nanny” and “waiter,” and would strongly promote innovation in thinking, science and technology, and business models, thereby sending out the strongest message in support of high-quality economic development.

Tianjin 2019: China Entrepreneurs Conference Held

In recent years, the concept of “Industry First, Entrepreneurs Foremost” has been continuously reinforced and consolidated in Tianjin. “We will vigorously promote the improvement of the business environment, making service to enterprise development a conscious action,” emphasized Li Hongzhong. He noted that Tianjin is making significant efforts to improve its ecological environment, providing entrepreneurs with favorable conditions for living and working in the city.

Liao Jieyuan, Chairman of WeDoctor Group, delivered a keynote speech at the conference as a representative of outstanding entrepreneurs. “The Tianjin government provides ‘nanny-style’ services to enterprises, with highly efficient administrative processes. In the future, WeDoctor will establish the regional headquarters of its ‘Digital Health Platform,’ which has been developed over many years, in Tianjin, jointly promoting the development of Tianjin’s digital health industry,” said Liao Jieyuan. He stated that Tianjin is poised to become an internationally leading center for digital medicine and a world-class healthy city.

The business environment continues to improve, and Tianjin’s digital health industry is gaining strong momentum. In 2018, the scale of the digital economy in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region reached RMB 3.46 trillion, ranking third nationwide, while Tianjin’s digital economy accounted for over 40% of its GDP. This May, the “Action Plan for Promoting the Development of the Digital Economy in Tianjin (2019–2023)” was officially released, explicitly calling for the advancement of smart healthcare, vigorous promotion of the “Internet + Healthcare” model, and enhanced interoperability of health and medical big data.

Liao Jieyuan Delivers Keynote Address at the Conference

In this context, WeDoctor Group will establish its presence in Tianjin to promote the development of the city’s digital health industry. Currently, WeDoctor has connected more than 3,200 hospitals and over 300,000 doctors across 30 provinces in China, building the country’s largest digital health platform. By leveraging artificial intelligence to replicate the expertise of top-tier specialists, it has substantially improved primary healthcare capabilities and established a four-tier interconnected digital medical network spanning municipal, district/county, sub-district/township, and community levels, thereby assisting various regions in creating digital health communities.

Tianjin is one of the pilot cities for the “4+7 Volume-Based Procurement” program. Liao Jieyuan stated that the application of digital platforms will fundamentally transform drug distribution mechanisms and significantly reduce drug prices. Haixi Pharmaceutical Trading Center, under WeDoctor, assisted Sanming City in Fujian Province in completing reforms to its drug procurement mechanism, resulting in cumulative savings of RMB 7.3 billion on drugs and medical consumables over seven years.

Tianjin is also among the top ten cities in China’s Regional Competitiveness Index for the Intelligent Industry, boasting a robust foundation for the development of medical artificial intelligence (AI). In the future, AI technology can rapidly replicate the expertise of leading specialists to establish standardized diagnostic and treatment pathways, which can be continuously trained and optimized to assist physicians in their daily clinical practice. Currently, WeDoctor has leveraged big data and AI technologies to develop standardized diagnostic and treatment protocols across four tiers—city, county, township, and village—and has implemented Digital Health Communities in multiple provinces nationwide, delivering the intelligence of the “Digital Medical Brain” to various regions.

Currently, healthcare reform is shifting from a “healthcare-centered” model to a “health-centered” one, with digital platforms serving as a key driver for the rapid implementation of these reforms. “By pursuing a development path centered on digital platforms for medical care, pharmaceuticals, and health insurance, Tianjin is poised to become a future hub for digital health,” said Liao Jieyuan. The North China headquarters of WeDoctor Group will be established in Tianjin, where the company will invest in building service platforms such as the Digital Health Community, internet hospitals, and Health Banks. These initiatives aim to promote the development of Tianjin’s digital health industry and provide high-quality digital health services to nearly 16 million residents.