Number of medical e-commerce users tripled in China in five years, reached 661 million in 2020
CGTN
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Doctor Xu Siying talks on the phone as she consults with a patient at the JD.com headquarters in Beijing, Friday, March 27, 2020. Xu consults for hundreds of patients a day - all from the comfort of a high-tech office in southeastern Beijing. She's one of about 300 doctors employed by Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, which runs an online medical consultation platform under its health division, JD Health. (Photo: AP)

Online health medical care in China has witnessed rapid development thanks to whizzy internet technology and strong government support.

In 2020, the number of online medical users in China reached 661 million, more than three times the total amount of users in 2015, according to data released by consultancy iiMedia Research.

The market size of online medical care in the world's most populous country stood at 54.47 billion yuan ($8.41 billion).

Analysts point out that it's people's increasing demands for medical e-commerce and online medical care platforms that bring the fast application of internet in the medical care field.

Data from the National Health Commission (NHC) showed that more than 7,700 Grade II and above hospitals, with a higher number of beds and more comprehensive medical services, have provided online medical services, and the collaborative telemedicine network covers more than 240,000 medical institutions in cities across China.