The success of the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, which opened in July 2012, has fired the interest of more and more Hong Kong business people in investing in healthcare services on the Chinese mainland.

A group of Hong Kong investors, led by former financial secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung, has plowed about 100 million yuan into a 218-bed specialist hospital in Chengdu, Sichuan province. A spokesman for the group said they plan to open two or three hospitals and up to 20 medical clinics on the mainland.

Besides the Chengdu project, the group is looking for a suitable site in Shenzhen to build a large 1-billion-yuan hospital that's expected to come on stream within 12 years.

The strong demand for quality medical and healthcare services on the mainland has become a business opportunity for Hong Kong entrepreneurs and medical professionals since the sector's progressive opening up to foreign investment in recent years.

Hong Kong has an edge over other overseas investors in competing for a share of the mainland's healthcare pie. That's because the quality and price competitiveness of the SAR's healthcare services in the public and private sectors are well known to mainland people, especially those in Guangdong province.

Although the long queues at government clinics, as well as overcrowding in public hospitals, have been a source of complaints by local people, the high standards of affordable medical care provided to all have long been the envy of people in neighboring cities.

Quality healthcare is not the only Hong Kong expertise that's in strong demand on the mainland - the city also excels in such fields as transportation, building management and entertainment. Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway is known to have won build-and-operate contracts not only in some mainland cities, but also in London.

Indeed, finance is not the only opening for Hong Kong investors under the nation-led Belt and Road Initiative. We're sure Hong Kong business people are also keen to benefit from other sectors by leveraging their expertise and experience.

(HK Edition 08/18/2017 page9)