HaoXinQing Files IPO Prospectus to Build China's Most Professional Mental Health Platform Backed by 10,000 Psychiatrists and NHWA Pharma
Chen Guanwei, CEO of Haoxinqing
“We focus exclusively on mental health services, offering the most professional platform for learning, exchange, and online consultation in psychiatry and psychology,” Chen Guanwei told VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat).
Chen Guanwei, CEO of Haoxinqing, previously spent eight years at the renowned IT portal website PCOnline. In 2012, he founded two platforms: “Doctor Tree,” a doctor-patient communication platform focused on post-diagnosis and post-hospitalization care, and “Yao Kuai Hao,” a one-hour medication delivery service. Well-versed in internet marketing strategies and acutely aware of the hidden pitfalls in the mobile healthcare industry, Chen has personally led his team to forge partnerships with hospitals. He excels in engaging with physicians and healthcare institution administrators, continuously absorbing industry insights, and possesses a thorough understanding of the needs and pain points of doctors, patients, and hospitals alike. As a seasoned veteran of internet entrepreneurship, he brings extensive battlefield experience to the field.
In March 2016, under the leadership of Chen Guanwei, Beijing Haoxinqing Mobile Medical Technology Co., Ltd. was established, with its app product named “Hao Xinqing.” Less than a year after its inception, Hao Xinqing secured RMB 50 million in angel-round funding led by Enhua Pharmaceutical. This financing round has now been completed and the funds have been received. Following this investment, Enhua Pharmaceutical holds a 51% equity stake in Beijing Haoxinqing Mobile Medical Technology Co., Ltd., and Hao Xinqing will gain access to all medical resources associated with Enhua Pharmaceutical.
For the startup “Haixinqing,” the equity investment from Enhua Pharmaceutical, a leading domestic player in the psychiatric industry, in the form of both resources and capital, is truly the icing on the cake.
Jiangsu Nhwa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. was founded in 1978 and listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2008 (Stock Code: 002262). It is an integrated pharmaceutical enterprise combining research, manufacturing, and trade. The company is a designated manufacturer of psychotropic drugs by the National Ministry of Health, a National High-Tech Enterprise, one of the Top 100 Pharmaceutical Enterprises in China, a National Intellectual Property Pilot Unit, and a Star Unit for Pharmaceutical Quality Management under the National “20 Years, 20 Stars” program. It is also certified under the International Environmental Management System (ISO 14000), recognized as one of the first batch of Innovative Enterprises in Jiangsu Province, serves as a Vice-President Unit of the China Narcotic Drugs Association, and holds the position of Vice-President Unit in the Jiangsu Pharmaceutical Industry Association.
Leveraging the resources and capital of Nhwa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Haixinqing has positioned itself to adopt a top-down strategy: first integrating psychiatric specialty hospitals and physicians across China, and then expanding into offline medical institutions. This listed company holds a monopolistic advantage in resources related to hospitals and doctors in the fields of psychiatry and neurology within China, particularly boasting decades of accumulated resources in psychiatry.
Therefore, unlike other online healthcare platforms in psychiatry and psychological counseling, which primarily offer light-touch services such as mild psychological counseling, peer support among users, and emotional venting, Haoxinqing takes a different approach by engaging psychiatric specialists. It leverages professional clinical methods and technologies to assist patients with psychological and mental disorders, serving as a medical service platform dedicated to disease management and mental health care. Due to this distinct positioning, Haoxinqing differs from social psychological counselors, community forum-style counseling, or simple emotional sharing. It appears more professional, operates with a heavier service model, and boasts higher competitive barriers.
In Chen Guanwei’s view, approaching from the patient side by offering simple psychological tests and general counseling services is unprofessional and fails to ultimately resolve patients’ issues. This is especially true when dealing with depression, anxiety disorders, somatic symptom disorders, or even schizophrenia; ordinary online counseling platforms or counselors are simply unable to address users’ problems in any meaningful way. Chen Guanwei believes that providing professional services to solve users’ problems is the correct approach.
Currently, the Haoxinqing platform has onboarded 10,000 top-tier psychiatrists from public hospitals across China, with over 500,000 registered users. The platform is also actively inviting more psychiatrists, public hospitals, psychological experts, and offline psychological counseling institutions to join. In the next phase, it will begin inviting selected neurology experts to expand the availability of professional resources for users in the field of mental health.
According to 2013 statistics from the Ministry of Health, China currently has 160 million individuals with various mental disorders, including over 16 million patients with severe mental illnesses, while the total number of psychiatrists nationwide is only 23,000. Mental health service resources are severely scarce and unevenly distributed, and the existing service capacity and quality fall far short of meeting the public’s health needs and the requirements of social management.
At the Third Session of the 12th National People's Congress, Premier Li Keqiang introduced the concept of "Internet Plus." In response, Beijing Haoxinqing Mobile Health Technology Co., Ltd. was established in 2016, filling a gap in the internet healthcare market within the specialized and vertical field of psychiatry and psychology.
From a market perspective, most entrepreneurs focus on managing physical conditions such as cancer, heart disease, hypertension, and pediatric disorders. However, mental health has long been overlooked by the Chinese population, despite the substantial demand in this sector.
On the other hand, there are very few projects focused on building professional mental health medical platforms due to the high level of expertise required and significant entry barriers. As a specialized vertical field, it suffers from a scarcity of physician resources, with only slightly over 20,000 psychiatrists nationwide. Additionally, many people perceive mental and psychological health as mysterious, deterring most entrepreneurs from entering this space. For instance, platforms like Haodafu center their services around appointment registration and extend into ancillary offerings. Existing healthcare platforms have rushed to emulate this model, relying primarily on appointment scheduling as their foundational service and providing lightweight online consultations. However, they fail to access core medical resources and are limited to offering medical information services.
In August, the state issued a health plan to strengthen people’s mental well-being through dietary measures, including those targeting mental health. This initiative responds to the fact that China has 90 million individuals with depression, and depression currently ranks as the fourth leading disease worldwide. By 2020, depression is projected to become the second largest threat to global human health, surpassed only by cardiovascular diseases.
The user base is large, but most people have not yet developed the habit of seeking medical services; often, individuals are reluctant to consult doctors, indicating a huge market potential. From both social and economic perspectives, Chen Guanwei believes it is highly worthwhile to pursue this opportunity. The mental health market represents a blue ocean. Haixinqing (Good Mood) is backed by Enhua Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., leveraging its advantageous resources and medical expertise in China’s psychiatric field. In contrast, the general practitioner sector has become a red ocean, with established platforms such as Guahao.com, Haodf.com, and Xunyiwenyao.com having operated for many years, leaving little room for new entrants.
What conveniences can the Haoyiqing Mobile Health Platform bring to patients, doctors, and hospitals? What problems does it solve?
“We focus exclusively on psychiatry, offering a platform tailored specifically for psychiatrists that provides the most professional learning resources, video tutorials, and services for communication and online consultation within the psychiatric industry,” said Chen Guanwei.
From the physician’s perspective, the following three key issues are primarily addressed:
1. Psychiatric and Psychological Patients Now Have “Private Doctors.”Leverage data algorithms to precisely match users seeking mental health support with physicians, establishing one-on-one online connections. Patients can engage in continuous online consultations and achieve self-healing under physician guidance and automated system tracking. The platform also provides post-consultation follow-up services for physicians, which are particularly critical in psychiatry and psychology due to the prolonged nature of treatment courses.
2. Transforming Physicians’ Knowledge into Wealth.Psychiatrists work under long-term high workload and high pressure, with income disproportionate to their efforts. Haoxinqing transforms doctors' expertise into tangible income, with an average monthly income of 15,898 yuan per doctor, and the income continues to rise.
3. Psychiatrists' Cloud Hospital.As China’s first online practice platform for psychiatrists, Haixinqing provides a mobile cloud hospital for psychiatrists, enabling them to engage in online learning and exchange, as well as to access and publish scientific research and academic papers.
From the perspective of doctor-patient communication, patients can choose methods such as text-and-image consultations, telephone consultations, and video consultations to communicate with doctors.
Patients can engage in real-time online consultations with doctors via the Haoxinqing APP, using text, images, voice, or even video calls, allowing physicians to address patient inquiries anytime and anywhere. Consultation fees are set by the doctors themselves on the client-side platform, with a maximum cap of RMB 3,000 per consultation.
Telephone Consultation: Renowned physicians provide one-on-one telephone guidance on medication use, eliminating barriers and dispelling doubts for greater efficiency!
Physicians address patient inquiries via telephone consultations. After purchasing the service, patients confirm their availability 15 minutes prior to the scheduled call. At the designated time, the system automatically connects both parties for the consultation. Throughout the call, the physician’s phone number is encrypted to safeguard personal privacy. Each consultation is limited to 15 minutes, after which the system will automatically terminate the call.
Fees earned by physicians on the platform, including subsidies, income from telephone consultations, and income from text-and-image consultations obtained through a first-to-respond mechanism, are recorded in the client-side application and available for real-time query.
On the hospital front, Haixinqing is also actively expanding its product offerings for hospital platforms. By undertaking secondary development of psychiatric hospitals’ WeChat system platforms, it provides functionalities including hospital information and academic announcements, brand building, patient education, online consultations, triage, patient guidance, and follow-up care. The next step will involve integrating these systems with hospital registration windows. For Haixinqing, the goal of developing such platforms for psychiatric hospitals is to establish an academic resource-sharing network across one hundred hospitals, effectively sharing and enhancing medical resources in this field, thereby making greater contributions to the development of mental health services in China.
Currently, the WeChat platform of HaoXinQing has served multiple hospitals, including the Tianjin Mental Health Center, Hengshui Baorao Hospital, and Heze No. 2 People’s Hospital. According to Chen Guanwei, the number of patients at each hospital increases by an average of approximately 200 per day. The platform actively promotes academic development and brand building for these institutions, enhancing post-consultation value, operational stability, and social reputation. For instance, it facilitates post-outpatient follow-up tracking. Given that conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, and schizophrenia involve prolonged disease courses and complex etiologies, long-term follow-up is essential. This is achieved through systematic remote scale assessments for evaluation.
In fact, mental illness or psychological disorders are chronic conditions. Patients, who place a high value on privacy, have a particular need for online consultations—specifically, the ability to discreetly seek medical advice in secret and without others present.
Meanwhile, due to misconceptions rooted in Chinese cultural norms, many individuals are reluctant to acknowledge their mental health conditions. They fear visiting hospitals, being seen by others, social interaction, and potential regulatory scrutiny. The internet offers a comprehensive solution to this issue, enabling users to seek anonymous consultations and access treatment plans. By utilizing professional screening scales during online consultations, connecting with specialists, and scheduling appointments with healthcare institutions, patients can effectively alleviate their suffering and resolve their problems.
Screening scales can be designed as modular, standardized, and highly user-friendly tools. Haoxinqing has independently developed a suite of professional, authoritative, and universally applicable assessment scales, enabling the determination of mental health status within just a few minutes.
When users receive their results, the Haixinqing platform matches them with corresponding experts, allowing users to optionally purchase phone or consultation services. In the future, Haixinqing aims to assist more offline psychological institutions, psychology clinics, and private medical facilities by referring patients to them and expanding its product offerings. Revenue streams may include pharmaceuticals, rehabilitation equipment, and health supplements for recovery.
Haoxinqing aspires to become the most professional connectivity platform in this field, linking users with mental health needs to specialized medical resources. It provides authoritative and professional platform-based services, distinguishing itself from any other psychological service platform in the industry. Moving forward, it will continue to enhance its system to build a more intelligent mental health service platform, offering one-stop solutions for every user.
To date, 80% of Haoxinqing’s team members come from internet companies, while the remainder are experts with many years of experience in psychiatry and psychology. Chen Guanwei values individuals who are diligent and down-to-earth. Although the team is not widely known, it comprises a group of hardworking professionals, many of whom are long-standing colleagues who have worked alongside him for years.
After departing from Doctor Tree, Chen Guanwei had been seeking another entry point into the mobile healthcare industry. Leveraging his extensive experience and applying a proven business model and operational methodology, he identified a new market gap in psychiatry through his collaboration with Enhua Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. By integrating the resources of this publicly listed company, he is highly confident in the prospects of the Haixinqing APP. Today, Haixinqing has evolved into a comprehensive multi-platform ecosystem, featuring dedicated apps for both physicians and patients, as well as a WeChat-based interface.
Sometimes, capital is a double-edged sword. It can lift you to great heights, but it can also make your fall devastating. Many entrepreneurs, after partnering with investors, become short-sighted and eager for quick success under the pressure of capital, leading to shifts in their mindset and operational strategies. A business model that may have been viable from an entrepreneur’s perspective might be shelved or abandoned due to differences in vision with investors. Yet, the idea you gave up might just have been the lifeline that could have saved you in the future.
Therefore, for an entrepreneur, it is not only essential to possess the ability to secure financing but also to master the integration of resources; otherwise, even the most valuable resources can become a burden. The leadership team of Nhwa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., ranging from the Chairman to the General Manager, has demonstrated remarkable inclusiveness and foresight in their strategic layout and operational management of this new venture. Indeed, attitude plays a subtle yet critical role; entrepreneurship is akin to walking on thin ice, where the slightest misstep can lead to the premature failure of a project.
In the mobile health industry, one must avoid impetuousness, boastfulness, and blind trend-following. Relying solely on internet-centric thinking is fraught with difficulty; the focus must be on tangibly solving problems for users. Therefore, Chen Guanwei rarely participates in industry roadshows or salons. In his view, hearsay can interfere, to varying degrees, with the information he has persisted in gathering and understanding, potentially leading to misjudgment. If he truly seeks to understand the market, he will personally engage in market development. For instance, he personally acquired the first user for Hao Xinqing. Only through such direct involvement can one gain a deep understanding of user needs, comprehend the industry, and penetrate deeply into the industrial landscape.
There are no precedents or established models to follow in the mobile health industry; entrepreneurs must navigate this entirely new sector through trial and error. In contrast, e-commerce has been developing for over a decade. Five years ago, many people did not even understand what mobile health meant, and it was not until 2014 that the concept truly exploded. However, cynicism and harsh criticism from onlookers have sometimes caused promising initiatives to be abandoned. We should offer greater tolerance and support to those pioneering this industry.
“I believe that entrepreneurship is a painful yet rewarding journey. The pain stems from having very little rest each day; my colleagues often joke that I’ve lost more than half of my hair due to the immense pressure, leading many to believe that ‘entrepreneurs all suffer from anxiety.’ For instance, there is pressure from product development, performance growth, talent acquisition, and market expansion, not to mention the responsibility owed to shareholders. Every time we achieve some success at one stage, the next stage demands breakthroughs, which in turn brings even greater pressure.”
The sense of fulfillment stems from the significant social impact of the healthcare industry. Entering this field at this stage is neither too early nor too late, but just right. With immense demand for mental and psychological health services, it is essential to clearly define product offerings and business models, and ensure survival, before the advent of the true consumer boom.
Finally, Chen Guanwei set a modest goal for himself: to proceed with steady and deliberate steps in every aspect of Haoxin Qing’s products and business model that involve healthcare. By approaching the market from a professional perspective and planning for the long term, the company can secure its place in the vast future market for mental and psychological health, thereby ensuring sustained competitiveness.