China plans to allow wholly foreign-owned hospitals in some areas

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Sunday said it would the allow the establishment of wholly foreign-owned hospitals in nine areas of the country including the capital, as Beijing tries to attract more foreign investment to boost its flagging economy.

In a document on the official website of China's commerce ministry, it said the new policy was a pilot project designed to implement a pledge the ruling Communist Party's Central Committee led by Xi Jinping made at its July plenum meeting held roughly every five years.

"In order to...introduce foreign investment to promote the high-quality development of China's medical-related fields, and better meet the medical and health needs of the people, it is planned to carry out pilot work of expanding opening-up in the medical field," according to the document.

The project will allow the establishment of such hospitals in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hainan - all relatively wealthy cities or provinces in eastern or southern China.

The new policy excludes hospitals practicing traditional Chinese medicine and "mergers and acquisitions of public hospitals", the document read, adding that the specific conditions, requirements and procedures for setting up such foreign-owned hospitals would be detailed soon.

The policy also allows companies with foreign investors to engage in the development and application of gene and human stem cell technologies for treatment and diagnosis in the pilot free-trade zones of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, and Hainan.

This includes registration, marketing and production of products that can be bought nationwide, according to the document.

The removal of restrictions on foreign investment in these fields comes as the world's second largest-economy faces growing headwinds with flagging foreign business sentiment one of the issues threatening growth.

(Reporting by Eduardo Baptista; Editing by Hugh Lawson)