Jianke moves into bricks and mortar

A leading online drug store is to open an international hospital in Hainan province's Boao Lecheng International Medical Zone.

Earlier this month, Guangdong Jianke Pharmaceutical Co Ltd announced plans were underway to build the Hainan International Cloud Hospital at China's first medical tourism destination.

"The technical assessment is expected to be completed by the end of this year, as well as land approval," said Xie Fangmin, chief executive officer of Jianke.

In 2016, Lu Junhua, the deputy governor of Hainan, talked about how the pilot zone could become a world-class medical tourism destination within five years.

This latest move by Jianke will reinforce the progress being made in the Boao region.

"The hospital will focus on reproduction, sports rehabilitation, cancer and other chronic diseases," the company stated.

Jianke is one of the largest online medical service companies in China and plans to integrate its internet technologies to build a state-of-the-art medical institution.

Hospitals in the special zone enjoy preferential policies, including lower taxes for imported medical equipment and medicines, as well as research and development projects such as stem cell biotechnology.

But then, this is just the start of Jianke's expansion into bricks-and-mortar as they already have four small hospitals.

While Hainan International Cloud Hospital will be at the cutting-edge of its portfolio, the group is likely to concentrate on community projects.

"If we build 100 hospitals in the future, only two or three will be high-end," Xie said. "Most of them will be community hospitals."

Last year, Jianke was ranked number one by iResearch Consulting Group when it came to market value among online drug stores.

Now, the company aims to build a host of new hospitals this year after already laying out plans to construct at least four.

With 10 years of business experience, Jianke will combine its online pharmacies with internet appointments with healthcare professionals.

"We are trying to become an intelligent online health service platform," Xie said.

"This means covering all the services in the healthcare industry, such as management and appointments to consult with doctors and other medical professionals."

In 2016, Jianke became the first online pharmacy to make a profit.

Figures released by the group showed that revenue was 1.5 billion yuan ($223.8 million) last year, an increase of 50 percent compared to 2015.

"One of our aims next year is to have turnover of 2.5 billion yuan," Xie said.

Jianke has already had 1 billion yuan in financing because of the company's sheer scale of clients with more than 5,000 drug suppliers and up to 1,000 professional pharmacists.

Xie stressed that the plan is to list in the United States in next two or three years, probably on the Nasdaq.