Jiang Huicheng, founder of the Global Healthcare Consumption Forum, speaks at the forum in Haikou, Hainan province, on Tuesday. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]

The second Global Healthcare Consumption Forum (GHCF) was held in Haikou, southern China's Hainan province, on Tuesday. The forum aims to explore new opportunities for consumer spending in technology-empowered healthcare.

The event was one of the high-profile sideline events of the third China International Consumer Products Expo, taking place in Haikou on April 11-15.

Jiang Huicheng, founder of the forum, said, "Driven by policies and market needs, medical consumer spending has moved onto an epoch-making development track." The sector is targeting more niche markets while expanding, as some customers and patients are shaping new markets when seeking differentiated treatment and cutting-edge services, Jiang said.

He also said that the goal of the forum is to actively explore China's medical consumer spending market, standardize it by drawing on advanced international experience, and make China's voice heard among peers in the sector worldwide.

The first session of the forum last year garnered wide attention from the government and the industry, and helped a number of international medical consumer spending projects be launched in Hainan. With constant improvements in the sector in recent years, more Chinese consumers are turning to the domestic market for medical and health services, Jiang said.

Looking forward, Jiang said he believes that the sector has ushered in new opportunities, and that an all-round service system for medical consumer spending will not only meet people's health needs, but become a new driver of consumer spending in China.