Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau called on Director of the State Council’s Hong Kong & Macao Affairs Office Xia Baolong and visited the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (NATCM) and the Beijing Municipal Health Commission in Beijing today.

He introduced to Mr Xia an overview of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s healthcare system.

Prof Lo said having high-quality healthcare professions and an efficient healthcare system in place, Hong Kong’s multiple health indicators take a leading position globally and it is also one of the places with the longest life expectancy and lowest infant mortality rate worldwide.

“Nonetheless, the Hong Kong SAR Government still strives to tackle a number of challenges in the realm of healthcare, such as an ageing population, healthcare manpower shortage and immense pressure on the public healthcare system.

“The Chief Executive set out in the healthcare chapter of the Policy Address announced last month various policy initiatives aiming at protecting public health, enhancing healthcare service quality and further advancing the efficiency of the healthcare system.”

He emphasised that the Hong Kong SAR Government will continue to fully leverage the city’s healthcare strengths to develop into a health and medical innovation hub and build a “Healthy Hong Kong” as well as strenuously propelling medical innovation and collaboration in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) to make a collective contribution to the developments of the GBA and the country as a whole for integration into the nation’s strategy of “Healthy China”.

During his meeting with NATCM Party Secretary and Commissioner Prof Yu Yanhong, the health chief introduced the multiple policy initiatives in relation to the promotion of Chinese medicine (CM) development as set out in the Policy Address.

Prof Lo said: “Among others, the Policy Address underscores the need to give full play to the strengths of the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute.

“The Hong Kong SAR Government aspires to research and develop internationally recognised reference standards for CM and related products, coupled with transfer of technology to the CM industry for strengthening quality control.”

At the Beijing Municipal Health Commission this morning, Prof Lo introduced to its Party Committee Secretary and Deputy Director Zhong Dongbo, the latest healthcare developments in Hong Kong, while the delegation members shared the city’s experience and achievements in healthcare development.

They also had in-depth exchanges with Mainland counterparts in areas such as optimising hospital management, enhancing public health and improving healthcare service quality.

Prof Lo noted that after the COVID-19 epidemic, the Hong Kong SAR has been having closer and more frequent exchanges and co-operation with various Mainland provinces and cities in the field of healthcare development.

“We will keep up with our effort in strengthening and deepening such exchanges and co-operation to promote regional healthcare development, with a view to upgrading the quality and efficiency of the healthcare services to make concerted effort in contributing to the important national strategy of ‘Healthy China’.”