China's First Huatuo Health Town Unveiled in Hangzhou with Three Major Smart Medical Projects
On November 15, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat), as a strategic partner media outlet, was invited to participate in the inaugural International Smart Healthcare Conference. More than 1,000 guests from around the world, including academicians from China, the United States, and Russia, gathered at the G20 summit venue to discuss new achievements and advancements in smart healthcare.
During the conference, China’s first “Huatuo Health Town Demonstration Base,” focused on the intelligent medical and health ecosystem, was unveiled in Xiaoshan Information Port Town. Phase II of Xiaoshan Information Port Town, encompassing the two major sectors of China Smart Health Valley and China Artificial Intelligence Valley, officially opened for operations.
Distinguished guests attending the unveiling ceremony included Academician Han Demin of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; Professor Wu Zhaohui, President of Zhejiang University; Academicians Zhang Zhiyuan, Lin Dongxin, Liao Wanqing, and Xia Zhaofan, along with nearly ten other academicians and experts; Mr. Peng Shuyou of the American College of Surgeons and other academic dignitaries; as well as government officials including Wang Min, Deputy Secretary of the Xiao Shan District Committee of the Communist Party of China and District Mayor; Ye Jianhong, Member of the Standing Committee of the Xiao Shan District Committee and Director of the Administrative Committee of Hangzhou Xiao Shan Economic and Technological Development Zone; Tu Jinming, Deputy Director of the Administrative Committee; and Han Menglong, Director of the Hangzhou Bay Information Port.
Meanwhile, nearly ten members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, including Academicians Han Demin, Zhang Zhiyuan, Lin Dongxin, Liao Wanqing, and Xia Zhaofan, visited Hangzhou Bay Information Port Garden. Wielding shovels, they planted more than ten pomelo trees to establish the “Academicians’ Grove” at the Information Port, leaving behind a legacy of the “Academicians’ Spirit”—characterized by determination and pioneering innovation—and enhancing the entrepreneurial atmosphere of the Health Town.
On the day of the conference, the park also welcomed three major pieces of good news: the “group” landing of three significant projects, namely the Zhejiang University Ruiyi Artificial Intelligence Research Center, the Huaxia Medical Science and Technology Award Achievement Transformation Base, and the Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines and Immunology under the National Engineering Research Center for New Drug Development.
As one of the first key projects to be established, the Zhejiang University RYAI Artificial Intelligence Research Center focuses on core generic technologies in medical artificial intelligence for clinical big data, imaging, and genomics. It aims to build China’s own open platform for medical AI, thereby supporting the mining, application, and security assurance of healthcare data in China.
The center, branded as the Huatuo Health Town, has not only brought an internationally leading AI technology team and research projects to the Information Park but will also actively promote synergy between the center’s research outcomes and WeDoctor, the park’s flagship smart healthcare enterprise. This collaboration aims to better leverage the vast data accumulated by WeDoctor over the past seven years—including deep connections with more than 2,400 hospitals, 290,000 doctors, and 170 million users. By enhancing intelligence on both the supply and demand sides of healthcare services connected through its platform, the initiative seeks to extend the benefits of smart healthcare advancements to a broader range of medical institutions, health industry organizations, and hundreds of millions of users.
The “Huaxia Medical Science and Technology Award Achievement Transformation Base” was established by the China Medical Promotion Association. The Huaxia Medical Science and Technology Award, led by more than 50 academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering nationwide, is known as China’s “Nobel Prize in Medicine.” It primarily recognizes individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the fields of medical and healthcare technology. To date, awards have been presented to 315 high-level, high-quality projects.
The grand unveiling ceremony for the establishment in Huatuo Health Town has been held, connecting high-quality resources across industries, capital, technology, and talent. This initiative aims to accelerate the transformation and application promotion of innovative achievements from the Huaxia Medical Science and Technology Award, thereby enhancing regional medical research standards and scaling up applied translational efforts.
Another high-profile key project, the “Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines and Immunology under the National Engineering Research Center for New Drug Development,” has also been established in Huatuo Health Town. Jiang Jiandong, Director of the Institute of Materia Medica at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and Liao Jieyuan, Founder of WeDoctor, jointly unveiled the laboratory. Under the leadership of the National Engineering Research Center for New Drug Development at the Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, the laboratory will focus on the technological frontiers and development trends in the field of “immunotherapy.” It aims to build a technology platform for the development of naturally derived immunotherapeutic drugs and health supplements, striving to achieve domestically and internationally leading technical capabilities and standards in the research and development of such products.
The unveiling and establishment of three medical projects, leading both domestically and internationally, signify that Huatuo Health Town commenced the scaled implementation and operation of its intelligent healthcare industry on its opening day, further strengthening the town’s intelligent medical industry ecosystem.
Han Menglong, Director of the Hangzhou Bay Information Port, stated that the Xiaoshan Information Port Town has been focusing on the medical and health sector since its establishment. According to reports, the Huatuo Health Town project, now established in the Information Port, covers an area of 3 square kilometers, with a core zone of approximately 1 square kilometer. The total floor area is 1.5 million square meters, including 700,000 square meters of industrial space, capable of accommodating employment and living needs for 70,000 people. This initiative is expected to drive the advancement of the medical and health industry in Xiaoshan, Hangzhou, and even Zhejiang Province.
Huatuo Health Town Brings Multiple Major Projects to Xiaoshan Information Port Town, Leveraging Its Well-Established Industrial Ecosystem Developed Over Years of Operation. First, Xiaoshan Information Port Town boasts a vibrant atmosphere for entrepreneurship and innovation, featuring one national-level technology enterprise incubator and two national-level mass innovation spaces, and has been designated as a National Demonstration Base for Entrepreneurship and Innovation by Small and Micro Enterprises.
Since its opening in January 2014, Xiaoshan Information Port Town has focused on next-generation information technology as its leading industry, with “Internet+” and “Artificial Intelligence+” as its distinctive features. Adopting a management model of “government-led guidance and professional enterprise operation,” it has introduced and nurtured a large number of renowned domestic and international companies, including WeDoctor (Micro Medical Group) and Shulian China. The town has gathered more than 7,000 entrepreneurs and innovators, fostered several “unicorn” enterprises, and helped six companies go public.
Secondly, the existing health industry foundation of Xiaoshan Information Port Town provides inherent advantages for the implementation of major projects such as the Huatuo Health Town. Taking WeDoctor, which settled in the Information Port at the end of 2014, as an example, this “unicorn” in the field of smart healthcare has deeply connected more than 2,400 hospitals and 290,000 experts, launched internet hospitals in 19 provinces and municipalities across China, established 12 remote consultation centers for specialized diseases and specialties, and accumulated 172 million real-name registered users.
WeDoctor’s accumulated experience and data in the fields of internet healthcare and smart healthcare help consolidate high-quality medical resources across China at the local level, providing high-quality application scenarios and data support for data mining and machine learning in artificial intelligence research, thereby cultivating fertile ground for the establishment of AI-driven healthcare projects.
It is further understood that the collaboration between China Health Investment and the National Narcotics Control Commission to jointly advance projects on drug interdiction, control of drug users, and counter-terrorism—leveraging artificial intelligence, the internet, and the Internet of Things (IoT)—will also be established in Xiaoshan Information Port Town. The production lines for SPR instruments, test kits, samplers, biochips, and drug antibodies invested in the field of drug interdiction will also be widely applicable to the medical and healthcare industry. With the in-depth implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, the market size is expected to reach hundreds of billions.
Building on the existing foundation of the broader health industry, Xiaoshan Information Port Town has actively explored and boldly practiced, centering on the life and health industry. With core business sectors including biotechnology, pharmaceutical R&D, venture capital incubation, education and research, and medical services, it is committed to establishing itself as a leading domestic hub for technology-driven healthcare.
Ye Jianhong, Member of the Standing Committee of the Xiaoshan District Committee of the Communist Party of China in Hangzhou and Director of the Administrative Committee of Hangzhou Xiaoshan Economic and Technological Development Zone, stated that he hopes the development and operation of the “Huatuo Health Town Demonstration Base,” along with the establishment of a batch of national key projects, will further facilitate the decentralization of top-tier medical resources and cutting-edge technologies across China to Xiaoshan and Hangzhou, with spillover effects on surrounding areas. This initiative aims to create a model for the integration of industry and urban development, foster new economic formats, and support the upgrading of the health industry.