Why JiuYi160 Became China's First Internet Healthcare Stock: Overview and Product Insights

On December 15, 2015, Shenzhen Ningyuan Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Ningyuan Technology”) was successfully listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ) system (stock abbreviation: “Ningyuan Technology”; stock code: “834750”).

Ningyuan Technology was established in 2005 and has a 10-year history. Ningyuan Technology's main business includes internet medical platform services such as the JiuYi160 website, as well as medical software sales and other services. JiuYi160 currently has more than 500 employees and has become China's largest online appointment registration portal, providing the public with internet healthcare services including online appointment registration, patient guidance and triage, in-clinic payment, health consultation, and health management.



Official data shows that by the end of September 2015, the JiuYi160 platform had successfully covered more than 200 cities across China, with appointment registration services available in all 31 provinces. The platform had partnered with 5,000 hospitals, served nearly 150 million patient visits cumulatively, and provided daily services to approximately 660,000 users. It had onboarded over 350,000 physicians and accumulated more than 50 million registered users. Its subsidiary brands, including “Blue Dragonfly,” “Doctor’s Assistant,” and “JiuYiTong,” have become well-known names in China’s internet healthcare sector. By integrating key hospitals in multiple cities nationwide, these brands have significantly alleviated the difficulties patients face in securing appointments and accessing medical care.

The development of the 160 Healthcare Platform can be broadly divided into the following three stages:
1. From 2005 to 2009, Ningyuan Technology began to lay out its internet healthcare platform. In August 2009, the newly established JiuYi160.com primarily offered services such as hospital blogs, physician blogs, and doctor-patient community platforms;
2. From 2010 to 2012, internet healthcare platforms gradually took shape, and the Jiuyi 160 platform officially began providing appointment registration services to individual users.
3. From 2013 to the present, internet healthcare services have experienced rapid growth. During this period, JiuYi160 gradually evolved into a highly specialized vertical internet healthcare platform, expanding from cities such as Shenzhen, Dongguan, Changsha, and Guangzhou to over 200 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Zhengzhou, Hefei, Chengdu, Wuhan, and Nanjing. Meanwhile, JiuYi160 established strategic partnerships with major platforms such as Baidu, Tencent, Alibaba, and Sina.

The strategic partnership between Jiuyi 160 and the BAT giants will leverage their respective resource advantages to collaborate on internet healthcare services, including appointment registration, additional slot booking, and medical consultations. For Jiuyi 160, this alliance enables access to the massive user traffic of the three major internet platforms, thereby enhancing its channel entry points for online healthcare infrastructure and better establishing a closed-loop integration of online and offline services:

In January 2015, Jiuyi 160 partnered with Tencent, enabling Tencent’s mobile QQ app to integrate medical services in five cities, including Shenzhen, Dongguan, Guangzhou, Changsha, and Hefei. Leveraging its extensive network of high-quality hospitals, Jiuyi 160 provided mobile QQ users with information on hospitals, doctors, and appointment registration. Additionally, in January 2015, Jiuyi 160 collaborated with Alibaba to provide appointment scheduling services for Ali Health.

In March 2015, Jiuyi 160 entered into a strategic partnership with Baidu. Leveraging its strengths in appointment scheduling platforms, Jiuyi 160 provided the Baidu Doctor app with extensive resources, including hospital and physician information, registration services, and other outpatient offerings. In return, Baidu supplied Jiuyi 160 with technical support encompassing traffic diversion, technical integration, and big data analytics. The two parties also jointly promoted the installation of free in-hospital Wi-Fi at hospitals within their covered service areas.

To date,Jiuyi160 has undergone three rounds of financing:
In May 2012, it secured RMB 5 million in angel financing from Fission Capital.
In January 2014, it secured $5 million in Series A financing from joint investors including Shenzhen Qifu Capital and Beijing Aprui Investment.
In May 2015, Juyi 160 completed a Series B financing round of RMB 130 million, jointly invested by CDH Investments and Guangxin Capital. The funds were primarily allocated to future market expansion, cultivating user habits, and breaking through the competitive landscape of healthcare apps via a multi-faceted revenue model integrating “software + internet + healthcare.”
In October this year, Luo Ningzheng, founder and CEO of 91360, announced that the company would launch its Series C financing round.

In the future, the Juyi160 platform will leverage its advantages in “entry-point” traffic to extensively onboard a diverse range of partners across the medical and health industry chain—including private hospitals, physical examination centers, pharmaceutical distributors, medical device manufacturers, financial and insurance institutions, wearable medical device companies, and health management organizations—to co-build an internet healthcare ecosystem. By collaborating with specialized partners in fields such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, oncology, maternal and child health, liver diseases, kidney diseases, and rehabilitation, the platform will deepen service offerings and enhance user stickiness. It will further integrate service resources throughout the medical and health industry chain, strengthen the risk resilience of all participating parties, and jointly create an open, mutually beneficial internet healthcare ecosystem.

How is the profitability?

According to relevant data, Ningyuan Technology’s operating revenues for January–June 2015, the full year 2014, and the full year 2013 were RMB 7.9769 million, RMB 13.8012 million, and RMB 12.6820 million, respectively; its net profits were RMB -17.81 million, RMB -17.4434 million, and RMB -6.0123 million, respectively. As of June 30, 2015, the company’s total assets amounted to RMB 131.972027 million, and its net assets stood at RMB 120.5841858 million.

Luo Ningzheng, CEO of 91160.com, stated that the “Shenzhen Model,” characterized by government oversight, corporate investment, and public benefit, has achieved break-even status, generated modest profits, and demonstrated sustainable growth momentum. In terms of nationwide urban deployment, 91160.com has taken the lead in achieving localized profitability across multiple cities in the internet healthcare sector. According to Luo Ningzheng, revenue is primarily derived from the following segments:
First, there are agency service commissions for high-end medical service providers. For instance, booking an HPV vaccination in Hong Kong through the "Jiuyi 160" platform is not only more affordable than going directly as an individual, but also allows "Jiuyi 160" to earn a commission.
Second, it provides promotional services for pharmaceutical companies.
Third, it partnered with insurance companies and, through this collaboration, pioneered innovative insurance products such as clinic suspension insurance.

“Internet healthcare services will only gain user stickiness if they address essential needs; with precise traffic, generating revenue is not difficult. Moreover, monetization capability is correlated with market maturity. In Shenzhen, patients have become highly reliant on JiuYi 160 for medical consultations. We are experiencing rapid revenue growth in markets such as Guangdong, Hunan, Sichuan, Henan, and Shanghai. If not for the strategic goal of expanding market scale, it would be easy to boost profitability,” Luo Ningzheng told reporters. He added that JiuYi 160 will continue its rapid expansion next year, with its workforce set to more than double from the current 600 employees.

According to Luo Ningzheng’s analysis, internet healthcare has moved past its nascent stage and entered a phase of rapid development, with maturity expected within the next two to three years.

Luo Ningzheng revealed that JiuYi160 will leverage emerging technologies such as mobile internet to connect hospitals, physicians, and patients via its platform. By strengthening doctor-patient interaction, optimizing care processes, enhancing service efficiency, and improving the patient experience, it aims to deliver user-centric healthcare services. Through four core platforms—the Patient Service Platform, Tiered Diagnosis and Treatment Platform, Telemedicine Platform, and Health Management Platform—JiuYi160 is building an online hospital to innovate new models of medical service and reshape the landscape of healthcare delivery.

Luo Ningzheng predicts that companies with a market capitalization of RMB 100 billion will emerge in the industry within approximately three years, while those reaching RMB 1 trillion may appear in five to six years. He further stated that platform-based companies would achieve the highest market valuations, adding, “Jiuyi 160 will adhere to an open-platform strategy, aiming to become the industry leader and build an online hospital for the Chinese people.”