Compliance of foreign investments in Chinese healthcare big data

This column analyzes briefly, but comprehensively, the issue of compliance in foreign investments in Chinese healthcare big data from three major aspects – investment access, investment method and engagement in business.

Compliance in investment access. Pursuant to current Chinese laws, the healthcare big data analysis industry is open to foreign investments. As this industry is not listed in the 2018 version of the Special Administrative Measures for Access by Foreign Investors (Negative List), there are no marked system obstacles to foreign investments in the healthcare big data sector, unless otherwise prohibited. In fact, under China’s current legal framework, there is no legislation that expressly forbids foreign investments in the healthcare big data analysis industry.

Compliance of investment method. Notwithstanding the feasibility at the level of laws, domestic policymakers have consistently taken a relatively conservative stance on the selection of partners. Foreign-invested enterprises and enterprises with a foreign background may, in practice, be excluded from cooperation with public hospitals. However, foreign capital may take indirect means to realize investments in the Chinese healthcare big data industry. Through publicly available information, it is clear that certain domestic oncology data platforms have absorbed foreign investment in online platforms engaged in oncology big data collection and processing by using a VIE structure.

Amy Ye is a senior partner and Brian Dong is an associate at AllBright Law Offices. Hu Qiuyin, a legal assistant at AllBright, also contributed to this article