Innovative digital healthcare focus of Beijing event

The Digital Healthcare Innovation Startup Demo Day took place in Zhongguancun, known as "China's Silicon Valley", in Beijing's Haidian district on Tuesday, when 10 companies showed their innovative solutions in the industry.

The event, which aims to explore and support innovative domestic digital healthcare solutions, was jointly organized by Zhongguancun Inno Way, a street for entrepreneur service agencies, and Novartis Group (China).

The company is working with the Beijing municipal government to build the capital into a center of medical and healthcare innovation in China.

Zhongguancun Inno Way chose 30 startups for the event, with 10 eventually selected based on their business plans and performance.

Chen Xiaojing, vice-president of Novartis Group (China), said as the innovation leader in the world pharmaceutical industry, the company's innovation does not only exist in medicine development and treatment sectors, but also in business modes.

"Digital innovation has already become an important direction for Novartis," she said. "The event has built a great cooperative platform for the company and Chinese digital startups."

Nie Lixia, general manager of Zhongguancun Inno Way, said China has become an important contributor to global medical innovation. China has advantages in terms of population, huge amounts of data, and fast-growing internet technology.

"We will further continue the cooperation with Novartis on big data applications and digital innovation in the future," she said.