Hainan provincial health authorities have revoked Boao Yinfeng Healthcare International Hospital's business license, for illegally administering HPV 9-valent vaccines, according to a statement Sunday.

Located in the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone, the hospital has since January last year vaccinated 37 customers with HPV 9-valent, charging each 9,000 yuan.

They did so without obtaining an official vaccination outpatient license, said the statement.

It said the local health commission of Qionghai, where the Boao pilot zone is located, on April 18 issued the hospital a notice of penalties, including a warning, confiscation of illegal income, a fine of 8,000 yuan, and a revocation of its business license as a medical institution.

Relevant government departments have begun investigations into the source of the vaccines to find out whether they were fake vaccines or smuggled in from overseas.

The HPV 9-valent vaccine, only officially available at Boao Super Hospital in the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone in Hainan since May last year, was developed for women between the ages of 16 and 26 to deal with diseases like cervical cancer caused by nine types of HPV.

The Boao pilot zone is the first place on the Chinese mainland allowed to import HPV 9-valent vaccines and other drugs without needing central government permission, in line with the nine preferential polices granted to it by the State in 2013, such as special permissions in importing medical technology, medical equipment and medicine.