Ping An Health (Screening) Centers Files IPO Prospectus Amid Ambitious $4.3B Expansion Plan

At the turn of the year, VCBeat reviewed the policies and market performance related to the third-party medical services industry in 2017, analyzed the key factors driving its development, and outlined future trends. Third-party medical services emerged as a buzzword in the healthcare sector in 2017.

In recent years, competent authorities such as the State Council and the National Health and Family Planning Commission have issued multiple supportive policies and established detailed industry standards and management regulations. As policy benefits have gradually been realized, social capital has shown increased willingness to enter the sector. As a key component of Ping An’s broader healthcare strategy, Ping An Health (Testing) Center has rapidly emerged as a dark horse in the third-party medical and health services industry.

To this end, VCBeat gained detailed insights into Ping An International Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Ping An Leasing”)’s development plans for its layout in health screening centers from Fang Weihao, Chairman and CEO of Ping An Leasing, and Jiang Ying, General Manager of Ping An Health (Screening) Center.

Fang Weihao, Chairman and CEO of Ping An International Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. and Chairman of Ping An Good Doctor Investment Management Co., Ltd., is among the pioneering entrepreneurs in China’s financial leasing industry. He and his team have made significant contributions to the inception and development of the sector. In November 2016, he first proposed that China’s financial leasing industry had entered the “Innovation 2.0” era, and has since continuously explored model innovations aligned with China’s economic and industrial operational dynamics.

Jiang Ying, General Manager of Ping An Health (Check-up) Center, brings nearly two decades of practical experience across the insurance, finance, and healthcare sectors within the Ping An Group. He has previously served as General Manager of the Shenzhen Branch of Ping An Health Insurance, Assistant to the Chairman, and General Manager of the Shanghai Branch. With unique insights into third-party medical services and business model innovation, he is committed to advancing the implementation of Ping An’s broader healthcare strategy and promoting the upgrading of the third-party medical industry.

Exterior View of Nanchang Ping An Health (Testing) Center

In recent years, the Chinese government has successively introduced multiple policies to encourage private capital to develop third-party medical services, encompassing ten categories of independent medical institutions, including medical imaging diagnostic centers, clinical laboratories, pathology diagnostic centers, and health examination centers. The government aims for third-party medical services to leverage the flexibility of private capital on top of the existing healthcare system, achieve breakthroughs in cutting-edge technologies, integrated business models, and personalized services, and realize industrialization through chain operations.

In active response to the national call, Ping An has adopted a dual-drive strategy of capital and technology, fully leveraging the advantages of social capital in innovative management. It has deployed a comprehensive health and medical strategy across China, with the Ping An Health (Diagnostic) Center serving as a key component. The Center is committed to making significant contributions by optimizing the allocation of medical resources, establishing a diversified landscape for privately operated healthcare institutions, facilitating industry-wide sharing of medical resources, and enhancing service quality.

Against the backdrop of market demand and policy-driven guidance, third-party medical service providers are gradually emerging, with services such as medical imaging, laboratory testing, pathology, and health checkups being spun off from hospitals. Among these, third-party medical imaging has witnessed relatively rapid development in recent years.

Third-party imaging centers provide high-level, standardized diagnostic imaging services to institutions at all levels by introducing advanced imaging equipment and integrating resources from authoritative experts, thereby extending the benefits of high-quality medical care to a broader population. Furthermore, the development of third-party imaging centers is highly beneficial to hospitals, physicians, innovative medical enterprises, and the advancement of the entire radiology discipline.

With China’s population growth, severe aging trends, and rising per capita GDP driving an upgrade in health consumption, market demand for the health services sector continues to expand. However, as a core component of human healthcare, the health screening industry—centered on imaging diagnostics, medical laboratory testing, and precision physical examinations—faces a series of inherent pain points.

Fang Weihao has stated that Ping An Leasing actively responds to national policies by vigorously advancing development in the health and medical sectors. As Ping An Leasing’s flagship initiative in the sharing economy and healthcare landscape, the Ping An Health (Diagnostic) Center aims to optimize micro-level resource allocation, effectively alleviating the difficulties and high costs associated with diagnostic examinations at large tertiary Grade A hospitals, thereby providing the general public with professional, reliable, convenient, and diverse health screening services.

Ping An Health (Check-up) Center is a key component of Ping An Insurance’s grand health and medical strategy. Headquartered in the Lujiazui Financial Center in Pudong New Area, Shanghai, it provides services across China.

At the end of 2017, the first flagship Ping An Health (Diagnostic) Center was officially unveiled in Nanchang. Over the next five to eight years, a total investment of RMB 30 billion is planned to establish nearly 100 flagship Ping An Health (Diagnostic) Centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, all provincial capital cities, and selected second-tier cities, with the ongoing commitment to building China’s largest chain brand for health diagnostic services.

Facing this industry that is still in its infancy in China, how to explore a model and example with Chinese characteristics has become the next focus and breakthrough point for Ping An Leasing.

As an emerging force in the healthcare industry, the development path of third-party imaging centers is akin to “the Long March of a camel.” While the road ahead is undoubtedly arduous, Ping An Health (Diagnostic) Center will always regard serving society as its mission, creating health benefits for the general public, providing complementary resources and services to medical institutions, and becoming a new-era transformer of the third-party healthcare sector. In doing so, it will make due contributions to the national healthcare cause and to Ping An Group’s broader healthcare strategy.

Ping An Health (Diagnostic) Center: Nationwide Network in China