Planned facility will relieve pressure on downtown Beijing, planners say.

An innovative medical center, in one of the capital's new towns, will attract domestic and international investors amid growing demand for quality medical services, a leading development figure said.

The Beijing International Medical Center, located in the Tongzhou district, will cover 15 square kilometers and host non-government-funded medical institutes, especially from the private sector.

World-leading medical and nursing services will be available as well as research and teaching facilities, said Han Xiaofang, a member of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform.

The center will play a leading role in moves to separate existing medical services from government-funded hospitals, she said.

Government-funded hospitals in Beijing, especially top-tier ones, are facing growing demand as people from all over the country and even from outside China travel to Beijing for quality medical services, according to Han.

"In principle, the city government will not allow any new hospital to open in the downtown area, as massive quality medical resources are already concentrated here," Han said.

"So we are channeling quality medical services to new towns and areas with weaker medical resources such as Tongzhou. This will not only help relieve the pressure on the downtown area, but also allow quality medical services to be more accessible to residents there.

"We welcome investors, including foreign ones, to join us," she added.

Besides offering favorable policies for medical institutes in the center, such as cutting fees government departments charge, the city's government said it will try to get permission from the State government to allow hospitals that are totally owned by foreign investors to be set up in the center.

The then-ministry of health stipulated in 2000 that foreign investors must partner with a Chinese counterpart to open a hospital in China, and that foreign investors must hold no more than 70 percent of the shares.

A decade later, the National Development and Reform Commission and the ministry said that such restrictions "should be loosened up gradually", and more pilot sites be established for foreign hospitals.

A laboratory for pathologic and genetic diagnosis has already been set up at the center and is now conducting trial programs, according to Luo Tao, marketing vice manager of the center.

Yet the location of the center, which is outside the East Sixth Ring Road, seems to make it less appealing.

John Williams, managing director of partnership and government affairs of International SOS China, a global company that has a clinic in downtown Beijing that serves mainly expatriates, said it probably won't set up a clinic in the center.

"The majority of our customers live in the central business district and in the embassy area. Some of our clients are also based around the airport express route. We are membership based, and (Tongzhou) is not where our members live," he said.

Distance won't stop people from seeking quality medical services in Beijing, Han said in response.

"I believe what foreign investors value most is the huge market in China. Beijing is a hub of quality medical services, and demand has long exceeded supply," she said.

Long Xuewen, an official with the healthcare reform office, agreed.

"The center will offer services to not only expatriates living in Beijing, but also people across the country and from around the world," he said.

Wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn