In Today’s Talking Points: Study Says China’s New Carbon Plan Will Bring About Health Benefits; China to Continue to Push Internet-Powered Healthcare Services; Ping An’s “Good Doctor” Unit Secures Hong Kong’s Biggest IPO of the Year; Alibaba Advances Blockchain Based Food Fraud Platform
Study Says China’s New Carbon Plan Will Bring About Health Benefits
The implementation of China’s new carbon dioxide minimization plan could save lives and will bring about health benefits according to a study. The plan, formulated under the Paris agreement will be implemented over the next two years and will cover a range of oil refineries, factories and manufacturing plants. The study says that the mitigation plan is expected to create significant economic costs, as it will involve decreasing production, but it will involve an upgrade of industrial structures, an increase in energy efficiency and advancements in low-carbon technology. This will increase air quality and overall health according to the study. The study predicts that by 2030, 18-62% of the implementation costs of the plan will be made up for in health benefits.
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China to Continue to Push Internet-Powered Healthcare Services
In April, Chinese officials greenlit medical institutions to conduct internet medical services as part of a broader plan to increase healthcare services around the country. Online follow up diagnostic services will be provided for common and chronic diseases, increasing the overall efficiency of the healthcare system. The top two levels of the three tiered hospital system will be encouraged to provide online medical services, saving patients time and money on hospital visits. Further to the online system, China will speed up inter-connectivity and sharing of medical information while increasing the quality supervision of medical practices and information security. More efforts will be made to make sure that high-speed internet is available to the hospitals taking part in the online services pilot, with dedicated internet access to be set up in order to meet the need for long-distance healthcare services.
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Ping An’s “Good Doctor” Unit Secures Hong Kong’s Biggest IPO of the Year
Ping An Good Doctor, an online medical diagnosis app and technology company has secured the largest initial public offering so far this year in Hong Kong, raising HK$ 8.7 Billion. The IPO values the company around $7.5 Billion US. The company is a spin-off from Chinese insurance firm Ping An, and is the largest internet healthcare platform in terms of members and daily online consultations. Good Doctor offers online family doctor consultations, healthcare management and wellness services. Although posting a loss in recent years, investors remain confident that the company will perform well in the long-run, with recent losses due to the company being in it’s infancy.
Read more on Financial Times
Alibaba Advances Blockchain Based Food Fraud Platform
E-commerce giant Alibaba has started to trial a blockchain based supply-chain tracking system in an attempt to minimize food fraud. The program uses the blockchain based Food Trust Framework in order to track international food shipments to China from Australian firm Blackmores and New Zealand dairy maker Fonterra, both available on Alibaba’s e-commerce arm, T-Mall. Alibaba says the new platform increases supply chain transparency and if successful will see adoption across more sectors of it’s business.
Read more on Coindesk