On the morning of August 21, the International Exchange Conference on Innovative Medical Development themed "Driving Healthcare via Innovation, Linking the Globe through the Bay Area" and the launching ceremony of the 2026 Guangzhou Medical and Health Industry Expo were held in Area B of the Canton Fair Complex. Co-hosted by the People’s Government of Guangzhou Municipality and coordinated by the Guangzhou Municipal Health Commission and the Municipal Cooperation Office, this expo serves as one of the core exhibitions of the 34th Guangzhou Fair. It is the country’s first full-industry-chain professional medical and health expo coordinated by health authorities. Covering a total exhibition area of 30,000 square meters, the expo features 3 themed pavilions and 8 functional exhibition zones, with over 200 participating institutions.

More than 500 attendees, including government representatives from national ministries, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) and 18 provincial and municipal regions across mainland China, industry experts, entrepreneurs and medical technicians, attended the launching ceremony. Senior officials from the Department of Health of the HKSAR Government and the Health Bureau of the MSAR Government, alongside specialists from China, Australia, Singapore and other countries, exchanged insights. They jointly discussed the full industrial ecosystem of cross-border medical access to Hong Kong and Macao medicines and medical devices, and put forward suggestions for coordinated medical development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Three International Medical Platforms Launched to Forge a New Landscape of Bay Area Medical Collaboration

At the launching ceremony, the International Medical Service Management Branch under the Guangzhou Municipal Hospital Association was officially inaugurated — the first industry management platform in Guangzhou dedicated to international medical services. The Guangzhou Cross-border Payment Platform for International Medical Care was unveiled concurrently, while the Guangzhou International Medical Tourism Platform and its supporting products went online on the same day, forming a full-cycle service chain covering the phases "pre-arrival in Guangzhou, stay in Guangzhou, and post-departure from Guangzhou". The first batch of hospital-enterprise cooperation projects for international medical care and cutting-edge technological innovation were formally signed, enabling precise matching between clinical demands and industrial commercialization. This marks that the full-chain international medical system of Guangzhou, integrating "institutional mechanisms, payment solutions and comprehensive services", has evolved from top-level design to substantive operation.

As a core engine city of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Guangzhou boasts top-tier medical service capacity nationwide. The city is home to over 7,600 medical and health institutions and 50 Grade A tertiary hospitals, recording an annual patient consultation volume exceeding 194 million visits, with residents’ average life expectancy reaching 83.82 years. More than 6,500 biomedicine enterprises have clustered in Guangzhou, including 12 Fortune Global 500 firms, nearly 30 listed companies and over 1,000 high-tech enterprises, placing its industrial scale among the nation’s top echelons. In the first half of this year, the Guangzhou Municipal Health Commission rolled out 10 targeted measures to further advance cross-border access to medicines and devices for Hong Kong and Macao residents, alongside 12 innovative policies supporting the development of international medical services, to vigorously boost healthcare undertakings and the biomedicine industry.

50 Grade A Tertiary Hospitals Attend with Specific Clinical Demands for Pragmatic Hospital-Enterprise Matching

The highlight of this expo lies in the participation of all 50 Grade A tertiary hospitals in Guangzhou as demand-side exhibitors. To date, more than 300 clinical cooperation demands have been systematically submitted, covering 12 core sectors including intelligent imaging diagnosis, rehabilitation robots, in-hospital traditional Chinese medicine preparations and high-value medical device substitution. The expo pioneers a full-cycle closed-loop service mechanism: "intelligent pre-show matching, on-site dedicated negotiation teams, and long-term post-show follow-up led by written ledgers". One-on-one negotiation booths for hospitals and enterprises are set up in the exhibition area with professional on-site staff to deliver one-stop services ranging from demand matching to policy consultation.

The exhibitor lineup spans the entire medical and health industrial chain, bringing together research platforms such as the Guangzhou Laboratory and Sun Yat-sen University, leading enterprises including Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings, China Resources, Medtronic, BeiGene, Hengrui Medicine and BGI Genomics, as well as all 50 local Grade A tertiary hospitals. For the first time, Sun Yat-sen University organized joint exhibitions by 3 schools and 7 affiliated hospitals, releasing over 30 cutting-edge industrialization achievements on-site covering strategic fields such as cell and gene therapy, radiopharmaceutical R&D, and brain-computer interfaces. Leveraging the Guangzhou-Chengdu Mutual Recognition Mechanism for Innovative Medicines and Medical Devices, Chengdu sent a delegation of tertiary hospitals and innovative medtech enterprises to participate for the first time and hosted a special exchange session on cross-regional collaboration.

Concurrent Forums Cover Cutting-edge Sectors Across the Entire Industrial Chain

On the day of the launching ceremony, multiple parallel conferences were held simultaneously, including the Health Technology Assessment Exchange Conference, the roadshow for outstanding projects from the Guangzhou Laboratory Medical Innovation Camp, the "Industrial Chain in Guangzhou" Hospital-Enterprise Demand-Supply Fair, the Guangzhou-Chengdu Exchange Conference on Innovative Medicine and Medical Device Application, and the Press Conference on Digital & Intelligent Healthcare Achievements of Guangzhou Municipal Health Commission. George Valiotis, President of the International Society for Health Technology Assessment, delivered a keynote speech. Bank of China Guangdong Branch released an action plan to support full-chain innovation and development of the biomedicine sector. The big data platform of the Guangzhou Municipal Health Commission was officially launched, and the International Innovative Medicine & Medical Device Service Center opened its doors, offering one-stop services for global innovative pharmaceuticals and medical devices to enter the Guangzhou market.

A total of 25 parallel conferences will run throughout the expo, covering frontier areas such as innovative medicines and devices, brain-computer interfaces, nuclear medicine, cell and gene therapy, AI-enabled medical care, and inheritance & innovation of traditional Chinese medicine.

In addition, the expo opens a range of free experience programs to the public, including AI health screening, intelligent TCM diagnosis and treatment, medicinal and edible herbal tasting, and dermatology & medical aesthetics free clinics. Live demonstrations of distinctive TCM therapies and popular science lectures on health are also available, allowing cutting-edge medical technologies to benefit ordinary citizens. The expo achieves a dual-value goal: a platform for industry professionals to seek cooperation, and a wellness feast open to the general public.

The 2026 Guangzhou Medical Expo runs from August 21 to 23 at Area B of the Canton Fair Complex, with continuous exciting events awaiting all visitors.