Digital technologies reshape China’s big health industry with expanded smart medical scenarios

According to People’s Network, China’s big health sector is undergoing accelerated digital and intelligent transformation, driven by the in-depth implementation of the Healthy China strategy. A host of industrial innovation activities have been launched across the country recently, including the final round of the 2026 Xiongan International Healthcare and Wellness Technology Application Competition, which showcased 173 digital healthcare innovation achievements. Parallel industry events such as the Shaanxi Provincial Big Health Industry Resource Cooperation Conference have also been held to promote targeted digital upgrading of grassroots healthcare services and accelerate industry resource integration.

Digital and intelligent technologies are systematically reshaping the innovation and development model of China’s big health industry, with full-chain industrial effects continuing to unfold. By the end of 2025, China’s internet healthcare user base had reached 411 million, while county-level remote medical imaging diagnosis services exceeded 68 million annual visits. Digital tools have optimised operational efficiency across the healthcare sector through precise user profiling, intelligent service matching and comprehensive supply chain upgrading. In innovative pharmaceutical research, data integration and intelligent clinical operation systems have enabled AI-driven precise prediction and intelligent empowerment, fostering preliminary formation of an all-round digitally empowered health ecosystem and consolidating solid foundations for new quality productive forces in the health sector.

Digital empowerment has become a core driving force for unlocking the growth potential of China’s big health industry, spurring continuous emergence of new business models and industrial tracks throughout the medical value chain. Yunnan Baiyao has built the world’s first lighthouse factory for traditional Chinese medicine health products, leveraging artificial intelligence to accelerate new drug research and development and set a benchmark for technology-led industrial upgrading. National-level digital healthcare popularisation has achieved remarkable progress, with more than 1.2 billion people activating electronic medical insurance credentials. Online medical consultation and home-based intelligent health monitoring services have gained growing popularity, enabling continuous downward penetration of digital medical resources. The widespread application of digital healthcare tools reduces public medical service costs and promotes equitable, inclusive and accessible health services for all groups.

Digital and intelligent integration will continue to deepen across healthcare undertakings and the broader health industry to drive high-quality industrial upgrading. China will further optimise the underlying industrial infrastructure by building a unified and secure health data circulation system. Standardised industrial protocols for health data collection, storage and interaction will be accelerated, alongside the construction of integrated cross-regional and cross-institutional health data sharing platforms. Privacy computing and federated learning technologies will be deployed to break data barriers between hospitals, pharmaceutical enterprises, medical insurance institutions and health management organisations, while complying with national data security regulations and medical privacy protection rules. Tiered, traceable and controllable data circulation mechanisms will fully unlock the value of health data elements and provide solid underlying support for industrial digital transformation.

Multi-modal artificial intelligence technology will serve as a core engine to reshape precision health management paradigms. The industry will integrate multi-dimensional health data covering medical imaging, electronic medical records, genetic testing and daily physical sign monitoring to build intelligent hubs connecting medical research, clinical diagnosis and public health management. Continuous technological iteration will drive the full medical industry chain to shift from passive disease treatment to active health prediction and precise intervention, forming a complete closed-loop system covering basic research application, clinical efficiency improvement and inclusive public health services.

China will advance the ubiquitous deployment of intelligent health monitoring facilities to realise full-life-cycle health management. Systematic layout of wearable devices, implantable sensors and household medical equipment will be optimised to improve technical support for continuous and non-invasive real-time monitoring of human physiological indicators. Individualised digital health profiles will be established to dynamically simulate organ functions and disease progression trajectories. Health monitoring scenarios will extend from traditional hospital settings to daily life scenarios, achieving full-time and full-population coverage for disease management, postoperative rehabilitation and sub-health regulation, and completing digital hardware supporting systems for preventive healthcare development.

Supporting medical insurance systems will be further improved to expand application boundaries of digital health services. Standardised institutional frameworks covering market access, algorithm review and clinical application supervision will be refined to build a prudent and standardised industrial governance system with clear rights and responsibilities. Dynamic adjustments to medical insurance payment policies will gradually incorporate online follow-up consultations, standardised digital medical services and home intelligent health monitoring services into national medical insurance reimbursement coverage, effectively lowering public usage costs. Supported by improved institutional norms and medical insurance guarantees, digital healthcare scenarios including online diagnosis, intelligent chronic disease management and remote rehabilitation will achieve large-scale and regularised popularisation across the country.