China to Vigorously Develop 'Internet + Smart Healthcare' as a Key Enabler of Integrated Health Service Delivery

With the rapid development of internet technology, traditional healthcare has broken through institutional barriers to reach households across the nation, enabling the public to access one-stop medical services without leaving home. From November 16 to 18, the 3rd World Internet Conference was held in Wuzhen, gathering political leaders, experts, and industry luminaries from around the world to discuss leapfrog innovations in “Internet Plus” traditional industries.

Centered on the theme “Innovation-Driven, Benefiting Humanity,” the conference promoted the dividends of internet technologies for the general public. Internet healthcare, a core concern of the populace, sparked extensive discussions at the event. For the first time, the conference hosted a sub-forum on “Internet + Smart Healthcare,” which was attended by 130 participants, including senior officials from Europe, America, Oceania, and other regions, renowned experts and scholars, corporate representatives, as well as delegates from the United Nations and the European Union.

At the opening ceremony, Secretary Liu Yunshan emphasized, “Strengthen new approaches and methods for online convenience and information accessibility, such as telemedicine and online education.”。

“The Internet is being deeply integrated with related industries, including healthcare services, profoundly transforming the philosophy and models of medical service delivery and continuously fostering new business formats. With ‘humans performing tasks, data circulating, and the cloud computing,’ a new model of health services based on the Internet, cloud computing, and big data is beginning to take shape, which will provide an informational ‘boost’ to the development of both public health initiatives and the health industry.” Li Bin, Director of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, attended the “Internet + Smart Healthcare” Forum and delivered opening remarks. Meanwhile, in his keynote address, Li Bin proposed thatDuring the 13th Five-Year Plan period, vigorous development of “Internet + Smart Healthcare” is required to make it an effective vehicle for connecting the healthcare service system., and strive to safeguard the health of the people in all aspects and throughout the entire life cycle.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission will also focus on building a standardized system for population health informatization. Li Bin pointed out that China has initially established a medical information standard system suited to national conditions and aligned with international standards. By the end of December this year, the “Four Unifications” for standardized management of clinical diagnosis and treatment data will be achieved, namely: unified specifications for medical record front-page documentation, unified disease classification coding, unified surgical procedure coding, and unified medical nomenclature and terminology.

Marion Bartholomew, Acting Director of the Division for Public Administration and Development Management, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations:Health is at the core of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, a major goal adopted by United Nations member states at the UN General Assembly in 2015. It calls for leaving no one behind in the pace of development. The Sustainable Development Agenda comprises 17 specific goals applicable to all countries, and the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and civil society are all invited to actively participate. To achieve these goals as planned by 2030, we need to double our current efforts, and information technology provides us with valuable guidance in this regard.

Robin Li, Chairman and CEO of Baidu:“Internet Plus” healthcare is being applied across four levels: O2O services, intelligent consultation, precision gene analysis and precision medicine, and new drug development. The accuracy of computer-assisted intelligent consultation is rapidly improving, capable of identifying rare diseases with a probability as low as one in 100,000; computers may eventually surpass physicians. From an internet perspective, “Internet Plus” healthcare can be broadly categorized into four levels. The first level is O2O services, focusing on how to direct users from online platforms to offline facilities best suited to manage their conditions. The second level is intelligent consultation, exemplified by IBM Watson’s diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities for various cancers. Computers may often outperform doctors in this domain. The third level encompasses precision gene analysis and precision medicine. The fourth level is new drug development, which I believe is an area where big data and artificial intelligence can play a decisive role.

Maxime Courtemanche, Director of the Healthcare Services Division, French Ministry of Health:France’s e-health ecosystem involves multiple stakeholders. The first aspect is regulation, which encompasses several key areas. First, it requires adherence to and compliance with laws. Throughout all medical practices, regulatory oversight is in place to prevent arbitrary data collection and to ensure the privacy and security of patient information. Second, it necessitates compliance with a favorable policy environment, as this is essential for the further promotion of information technology. Third, regulatory efforts focus on setting strategic priorities. In France, our primary focuses are chronic disease management and the efficiency of the healthcare system. We have also invited industry partners to collaborate with us on initiatives related to these two priority areas.

To develop e-health in France, the first step is to establish a favorable environment, which entails robust collaboration with the private sector and civil society. We have also created effective collaborative platforms, such as building laboratory platforms to enable data sharing among stakeholders. Second, we aim to improve the utilization of digital technologies. Third, we seek to enhance the value derived from health data. Our e-health strategy has just begun to be implemented; we have formulated specific big data initiatives and appointed a dedicated National Health Data Officer.

Wang Chen, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of China-Japan Friendship Hospital:China’s healthcare system is characterized by four major features. First, there is an overall shortage of resources, particularly a scarcity of high-quality medical resources. Second, the system is fragmented, lacking a coherent and scientifically sound framework. Third, there is significant imbalance, with substantial disparities across different regions. Fourth, care delivery is non-homogeneous; due to insufficient training, there is considerable variation in the quality and standards of practice among physicians. These are the defining characteristics of our current healthcare landscape. With the advent of the internet era, the key question we must address is whether and how we can leverage internet technologies to resolve these challenges.

Zhan Qimin, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Dean of Peking University Health Science Center:Precision medicine has emerged in recent years as a novel healthcare model. At its core, it leverages omics technologies—such as genomics and proteomics—alongside cutting-edge medical advances to analyze, identify, validate, and apply biomarkers in large populations and specific disease types. This approach enables the precise identification of disease etiologies and therapeutic targets, as well as the accurate classification of different disease states and processes, ultimately achieving personalized, precision treatment for diseases and individual patients.

Jin Hongrong, Deputy General Manager of China Electronics Corporation (CEC):With the rise in national income and shifts in health consciousness, medical consumption demand in China is evolving toward diversification and multi-tiered development, indicating immense potential for the application of big data in healthcare. “From the perspective of market demand, China is rapidly aging while simultaneously experiencing a new baby boom, leading to ever-growing demand for healthcare services.” As national income continues to rise, consumer concepts and behaviors are also transforming. Currently, China’s total health expenditure accounts for only 6% of its GDP, significantly lagging behind developed countries. Medical resources are distributed extremely unevenly, with 79% of Grade III Class A hospitals concentrated in major cities, failing to meet the growing healthcare needs of the population. Therefore, the future development of the healthcare big data industry holds great promise.