Central authorities here in China have given approval for foreign investors to wholly-own hospitals in seven different cities and provinces.
The cities of Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu, Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan are involved in the pilot scheme.
Under the old rules, foreign investors were only allowed to own a maximum of a 70 percent stake in hospital joint ventures.
The Ministry of Commerce says the approvals for foreign-owned hospitals will be overseen by provincial-level governments.
There are over 11-thousand private hospitals in China.
New analysis is suggesting healthcare spending in China is set to hit 1 trillion US dollars by 2020.
For more on the moves, we are joined on the line by Cao Can, CRI's financial commentator.
