China’s largest online healthcare platform, Ping An Good Doctor, is working on its initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange for up to $1 billion USD, South China Morning Post reported. 

The deal is expected to launch in the first half of 2018, according to the Post. The app, which is backed by Ping An Insurance, received $500 million in first round funding in May of 2016, which brought the value of the company to $3 billion. Its parent company Ping An is reportedly worth $798 billion in total assets and is the third largest insurance company in the world, according to a May press release. In 1994 it became the first Chinese financial institution to introduce foreign shareholders.

Shanghai-based Ping An Good Doctor was founded in 2015 and has quickly evolved into one of the most popular healthcare apps in the country. The platform lets users consult doctors for a diagnosis and set up appointments. It has recently obtained an online hospital license, which will eventually let it provide prescriptions too, the Post reported. 

Ping An Good Doctor reports having 77 million registered users and up to 250,000 daily consultations, but has yet to make a profit, according to a Nasdaq report. 

In September the app recently launched a new artificial intelligence component called “AI Doctor.” The technology will act as a smart auxiliary diagnosis and treatment system and has hundreds of millions of diagnoses and health counseling data, which can be used for pre-diagnosis, triage and consultation, according to a statement from the company. 

There has been an increased interest in mobile health in China in recent years, as the aging population increases and the number of doctors and nurses to population size remains relatively low compared to the US.

A recent report published in Health Policy and Technology Journal, discussed the changing climate in Chinese healthcare and the need for such apps. Currently 15 percent of the population is over the age of 60 in China and 20 percent of the population is suffering from chronic conditions. 

“With hospitals struggling to fulfill medical demands, the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to provide remote health services has become increasingly popular,” the report said. “The use of mobile ICTs in health services such as the mHealth service is rapidly developing in China.”

People are living longer in China than in previous decades; the life expectancy has more than doubled from 35.2 in 1949 to 76.1 in 2016, according to the report, which cites progress in the healthcare system as a reason. According to the report, the majority of active mobile health users are under 30. The author notes elderly patients with chronic conditions currently have a low reliance on mobile health, which could be from the lack of policy support. Nevertheless, the market is still growing. 

“The mHealth market in China is expanding at an estimated annual growth rate of 50 percent,” the report said. “With the benefits from the development and adoption of mHealth services, the mHealth domain could become an important component of the Chinese healthcare market.”

But there are major difference in the healthcare system between the US and China which may change the implementation of mobile health. China’s hospitals are primarily state funded and doctors duties and salaries are designated by national regulations, according to the report. 

“The scope of medical responsibilities and the sharing of issues in the current medical system fail to fully resolve the potential uncertainties in the mHealth market, which deter hospitals and doctors from participating actively in the mHealth market,” the report states. “Currently, hospital healthcare and mHealth services are largely separate issues, as the current policy deters hospitals and doctors from active participation in the mHealth service. This situation is impeding cooperation aimed at improvements of China's mHealth services.”

There seems to be an active interest in mobile health apps among people in China. A 2016 study, which interviewed 18,180 participants from 23 countries, found that people in China were most likely to use connected health devices. Survey takers in China reported monitoring and improving exercise the top motivation in using these devices. 

Other digital health companies are also now looking to invest in China. In May, Israel-based Early Sense announced a partnership with Shenzhen Lachesis, a Chinese smart healthcare company, aiming to accelerate it into the Chinese market.