Stroke prevention and disability reduction pilot project is launched during the event in Nantong on Nov 24. [Photo provided to en.nantong.gov.cn]

The 2025 Healthy China Development Conference and the Yangtze River Delta Smart Healthcare Carnival commenced in Nantong, Jiangsu province, on Nov 24.

In her opening remarks, Mayor Zhang Tong described Nantong as a "city of happiness", characterized by a diverse and expansive healthcare and wellness market, a robust and promising industrial foundation, and unique, high-quality services. She extended an invitation to entrepreneurs and young students to collaborate with the city in its journey to become an age-friendly community.

Stroke prevention and treatment, a significant public health issue affecting the entire population, was a central theme of the opening ceremony. The conference not only launched the stroke prevention and disability reduction pilot project in Nantong but also gathered academicians, industry experts, and leaders to explore policies, technologies, and practices in stroke prevention.

Nantong has already laid a strong groundwork in stroke prevention and control. Under the leadership of Academician Ji Xunming and his team, Hai'an, a county-level city in Nantong, emerged as one of the first pilot areas for stroke disability reduction in China. They established a three-tier linkage system across city, town, and village levels, screened 227,500 individuals, and reduced the time to initiate intravenous thrombolysis for acute stroke patients to 37 minutes, 23 minutes faster than the national standard of 60 minutes.

The event drew industry titans such as Huawei and Genertec Health and Senior Care, alongside multinational corporations like Panasonic and Siemens. It showcased over 1,000 products spanning the entire industry chain and organized special matchmaking sessions for the health industry and silver economy industrial parks, resulting in the on-site signing of agreements for several high-quality biopharmaceutical projects.