Technology will drive the next wave of innovation in the smart healthcare sector in China, said government officials, experts and business executives at a forum held during the ongoing China International Import Expo on Saturday.

Ren Hongbin, assistant minister of commerce, said smart healthcare is growing rapidly in China, and according to some organizations, China has become the third-largest market for smart healthcare in the world, only after the United States and Japan.

Zong Ming, vice-mayor of Shanghai, said the city has just opened a new smart hospital in Qingpu district, which provides medical services to patients from the Yangtze River Delta through telemedicine.

The application of information technology in tracking patients has played a vital role in controlling the spread of the novel coronavirus in China, said Zhang Wenhong, leader of the Shanghai team of experts in the treatment of COVID-19.

Qi Xingui, an official with the National Health Commission’s Planning and Informationization Department, said the commission will promote the upgrade of the IT infrastructure in the health sector in the coming period of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025).

Song Weiqun, chairman of Johnson & Johnson China, said China is leading in technologies such as artificial intelligence and 5G, which have great prospects in the medical industry, and promoting their application needs collaboration with hospitals and government agencies.

A report, "Sharing the Opportunities of Healthy China (2020) White Paper", by the CNS Institute for National Affairs and Tsinghua University, also was published at the forum.