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China Made Regulations for JV Hospitals
China has worked out provisional regulations for the launch, operation and administration of Sino-overseas joint-venture (JV) or cooperative hospitals, which will become effective on July 1.
The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation have jointly issued a circular on the implementation of the regulations, the "Health News" said Wednesday in Beijing.
All JV hospitals and clinics which have been established without permission from the two ministries should undergo a re- examination of their qualification. Those that fail to meet the standards set by the regulations would be closed down, said the newspaper.
According to the regulations, overseas hospitals and firms can launch joint ventures in China after they get permission from the two ministries.
Solely overseas-funded hospitals are still not allowed in China.
A JV hospital should be internationally advanced in equipment, technology and management, and should be able to provide service that local hospitals can not give.
Investment in a JV hospital should not be less than 20 million yuan (about 2.4 million US dollars) with shares of the Chinese side no less than 30 percent, and the term of JV hospitals should not exceed 20 years.
However, exceptions may be made for hospitals opening in China' s central and western regions, as well as remote and poor areas.
Investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan will have to obey this rule when launching JV hospitals on the mainland.
Statistics show that there are about 200 JV hospitals and clinics in 19 Chinese provinces. But only 18 hospitals and some 60 clinics have official permits.
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