NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Beijing got its first privately owned mental health clinic on Sunday. This is part of a larger drive by the government to shake up the monopoly of state-owned hospitals in a country where private hospitals have less than one percent market share.

The decision to permit the private hospital was taken after the government initially allowed privately owned psychological counseling agencies in Beijing. But they could not provide medical treatment.

The new clinic is also the site of a government plan to gradually allow medical doctors to work in multiple hospitals instead of being restricted to one. This clinic will be served on part-time basis by 15 mental health experts from major Beijing hospitals.