China’s healthcare market is expected to hit 4.9 trillion RMB ($748 billion) in 2017, according to a health management summit recently held in Beijing.

However, this figure is still far from the goal set by the Healthy China 2030 strategy, which estimates the market value to increase to 16 trillion RMB by 2030.

Statistics show that the industry currently makes up less than 5% of China’s GDP, and challenges still exist given the contradiction between the limited supply of healthcare services and growing demand.

“China is at an initial stage of healthcare development,” said Ran Wei, vice president of China Health Management Association.

The healthcare industry is not a narrow industry, but an industrial system directly or indirectly related with health, said Wang Zhanshan, secretary of the China Health Management Association, adding that the sector covers a whole industrial chain from healthcare products to health services.

He thinks that the demand for health management will keep growing, and related departments should accelerate the top-design and establish collaboration platforms.