The Big Health Industry Complex, which is the first-phase project of the Guangzhou International Medicine Port (GIMP), is expected to be completed at the end of 2018 and put into use in 2019.

An Jianguo, vice-director of Liwan district in Guangzhou, and other government officials inspected the project on March 18.

Located within the Baietan Economic Circle in Guangzhou's Liwan district, the GIMP occupies a land area of 73 hectares and receives a total investment of 20 billion yuan ($3.16 billion).

The working sketch of the Big Health Industry Complex. [Photo/gimp.net.cn]

According to Chen Kaixuan, chairman of the Guangzhou International Medicine Port Co Ltd, the port has already been upgraded to be the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay International Smart Healthcare City, to comply with China's strategy to develop the Greater Bay Area. The Healthcare City aims to serve multiple functions, such as being headquarters for economy, industrial finance, innovation incubation, smart production, and health services. In ten years, the Port is expected to generate a whopping annual revenue of 100 billion yuan ($15.79 billion).

The first-phase project was officially launched last October. With a total investment over 5 billion yuan and a total construction area of 870,000 square meters, the Big Health Industry Complex will house a smart trade center, a medical mall, an international exposition center, a health examination center, a healthcare service center, offices, and apartments.

Chen Kaixuan, chairman of the Guangzhou International Medicine Port Co Ltd, introduces the Guangzhou International Medicine Port on March 18. [Photo/oeeee.com]

At present, the port is actively attracting leading enterprises of the big health industry from both home and abroad. International Hospitals Group (IHG), a multinational healthcare service company headquartered in the UK, reached an agreement on February to build the medical mall in the port.

The port is also a key project for Guangdong provincial government's program of building itself into a strong province for Traditional Chinese Medicine. Hence, it gives more priority to introducing good companies in the TCM industry. For example, Paohe.cn, an e-commerce platform for TCM, will settle in the port very soon.

At present, the port is negotiating with scores of government organizations of medicinal-materials-producing counties across the country. Plenty medicinal material exhibition halls and an exchange center for TCM materials will be established in the port in the near future.