On February 21, the Hainan Health Tourism Association (HHTA) signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the International Institute on Ageing of the United Nations - Malta (INIA) on the fields of health and aging. 

The two sides reached consensus to share resources and innovatively collaborate to build international healthcare-related demonstrative projects in Hainan that will boost the "Healthy China" strategy and address problems of aging.

HHTA President Gao Min meets with Yuan Ye, secretary-general of the IECAA. [Photo/Wechat account of HHTA]

Participating in the signing ceremony were a special envoy of the INIA, Yuan Ye, the secretary-general of the International Expert Committee on Active Ageing, INIA (IECAA), and Gao Min, president of the HHTA.  

Yuan greeted Gao on behalf of Prof. Marvin Formosa, director of the INIA.

The INIA will fully support HHTA's personnel training, and the health big data and aging and healthcare industries. It will also provide quality service and support to Hainan's health preservation industry.

Gao said that the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port has become a key national strategy. Hainan has wonderful climate condition, which is a distinct environmental advantage for developing the healthcare industry. Constructing Hainan into a "paradise of healthcare" is also an important plan of the Hainan provincial government.

The HHTA will introduce quality resources and advanced healthcare concepts to build Hainan into a high-end healthcare and tourist resort, Gao said. 

He added that Hainan, as a demonstration site for the healthcare industry, will further push forward that industry across the nation and build an old age nursing care model that not only suits Chinese people but also provides experience to other countries. 

The task of INIA is promoting aging related resolutions in the spirit of the UN, focusing on the UN's "general social goals regardless of age" and pushing forward healthy aging and an active aging strategy.

INIA aims to meet the needs of education and training in the aging field in developing countries and to push ahead age-friendly communities, centers of longevity, international healthcare and nursing demonstration programs and other projects around the world. It will boost the implementation of aging welfare policies in various countries and have a positive impact on global responses to aging issues and challenges. 

The HHTA, by virtue of learning from the experience of the INIA, will push forward the construction and promotion of international age-friendly communities, international demonstrative healthcare institutions, community nursing services and integrated health promotion systems in support of healthy and active aging.

 Gao Min shakes hands with Yuan Ye. [Photo/Wechat account of HHTA]

The cooperation agreement signed by the HHTA and the INIA will formulate healthcare standards and service norms in the health tourism field to promote the development of a comprehensive healthcare industry. Additionally, the HHTA will further improve healthcare systems around Hainan, gathering quality resources to build the province's healthcare brand. 

Gao was appointed a member of the IECAA before the signing ceremony.

 Photo of Gao Min and Yuan Ye [Photo/Wechat account of HHTA]