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Hainan Boao Lecheng (Hope City) International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone on Hainan Island is ready to receive 300 thousand visitors this year, including those from Russia. This was said by Yan Lukai, a representative of the medical cluster's administration, during a tour of the Boao Hope City in conversation with a TASS correspondent.
"In 2023, we expect that Boao Hope City will be visited by 300,000 people. By comparison, we received 189,000 visitors in 2022," said Yan Lukai, who heads the outreach department in the Lecheng Pilot Zone. "We are looking forward to welcoming visitors from Russia to our medical cluster as well."
According to the official, Hainan is an important tourist destination for Russians because of its climate, and Lecheng provides an opportunity to combine leisure with medical or recreational services.
"We used to have visitors from Russia [before the pandemic]. There are Russian-speaking specialists among our staff, including in the administration of the medical center," he said. He noted that the cluster's main customers are Chinese nationals, and Lecheng is also popular with residents of East and Southeast Asia.
Yan Lukai said that Hope City cooperates with many foreign pharmaceutical companies and medical equipment manufacturers, particularly from France, South Korea and Japan. Modern foreign drugs and technologies get approval for use in this pilot zone faster than in mainland China, thanks to a special simplified bureaucratic procedure.
"Lecheng provides medical services in cardiology, oncology, ophthalmology, cosmetology, nephrology, dermatology, pediatrics, gynecology, urology, otology, and respiratory diseases. There are also institutions here that specialize in recreational medicine. Athletes after traumas, women after childbirth, and patients suffering from chronic pain are treated here. The medical centers of the cluster offer services of both modern and traditional medicine, particularly Chinese, Mongolian and Tibetan.
As a TASS correspondent was told during a tour of one of these recreational hospitals, visitors to the Lecheng complex can also recover their mental state here. They have a library, a tea room, and spaces for practicing calligraphy and meditation at their disposal.
The State Council of the People's Republic of China decided to create a pilot zone for international medical tourism in February 2013. Hope City is the first and so far the only such medical zone in China. Twenty-four medical facilities are currently in operation here, and more than 20 more are under construction.
The Lecheng cluster is an important step in the establishment of Hainan's free trade port. Chinese authorities expect that by 2030, this pilot zone will be a major destination for international medical tourism, as well as a world-class medical research platform.
On April 13, 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the establishment of a pilot zone and free trade port on the island. The goal of the program is to bring Hainan into the process of globalization and international labor distribution, and to lay a solid foundation for innovation. The provincial government is creating an attractive environment for investors and creating a well-developed research infrastructure. According to the government's plan, by 2050 the region will become a unique cluster with an advanced economy, housing campuses of leading universities, advanced laboratories and headquarters of leading multinational corporations.
