Latest news with #Perennial
The Star
14 hours ago
- Business
- The Star
China's first foreign-owned hospital seeks more medical tourists
BEIJING: A Singapore hospital operator wants more international patients to seek treatment at its new medical centre in China, as foreign healthcare providers eye medical tourism as a new growth area in the world's second-largest economy. Perennial Holdings Pte's US$139 million hospital opened earlier this year in the northern city of Tianjin, and is the first fully foreign-owned medical facility in the mainland. The hospital aims to derive 30% of its revenue during its first year of operation from patients visiting from Russia to the Middle East and South-East Asia - hoping China will become an emerging destination for medical tourism that can compete with established regional rivals Singapore, Thailand and Japan. Perennial's focus on luring overseas patients to Tianjin came after China last year moved to allow private hospitals to be fully owned by foreign entities, which had previously needed a Chinese business partner. China's health regulator has since encouraged the Tianjin facility to differentiate itself from the country's public hospitals, hospital president Daniel Liu said in an interview this week. "Medical tourism has yet to become an industry in China, but it's showing promise. We hope to make the pie bigger,' he said. "Some specialities in the Chinese healthcare system have grown in the past two decades, to a point that measures up to international standards.' Private healthcare providers have faced headwinds operating in China as the country's post-Covid economic slump weighed on their main clientele - expats and well-off domestic customers with commercial insurance coverage. Some private hospitals and clinics have closed shop in recent months, while others have had to lower their prices, according to local media. China can be appealing to medical tourists in part due to a speedier diagnosis and treatment process that can get slowed down by rigid referral systems and a lack of resources in other countries. Still, luring global patients to China for treatment - especially when it comes to entering the country - still faces hurdles. China doesn't currently have a visa option for medical tourism, and the visa-free programme it's rolled out to more than 40 countries sometimes only grants stays of under a month - too short for some patients needing to undergo surgery and subsequent recovery. Earlier this year, hospital chiefs and medical experts proposed creating a new visa for medical tourism at China's annual parliamentary session. The move to expand medical tourism also dovetails with Beijing's goal to encourage more inbound travel. Some northeast China hospitals are already frequented by patients from neighbouring Russia, while southern provinces are welcoming patients from South-East Asia as access to Chinese medical care becomes part of the government's tourism push, state agency Xinhua reported. Perennial's Tianjin hospital is even hoping to bring in patients from as far as the UK, where private care is pricey and long waiting lists for the National Health Service have delayed treatments and even diagnoses of certain conditions. To meet future demand from international clients, Perennial is working to recruit medical staff from Singapore and finalise global medical insurance coverage, Liu said. - Bloomberg
Straits Times
20 hours ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Singapore operator of China's first foreign-owned hospital seeks more medical tourists
Perennial Holdings' US$139 million hospital opened earlier in 2025 in Tianjin, and is the first fully foreign-owned medical facility in mainland China. PERENNIAL HOLDINGS PTE LTD BEIJING – A Singapore hospital operator wants more international patients to seek treatment at its new medical centre in China, as foreign healthcare providers eye medical tourism as a new growth area in the world's second-largest economy. Perennial Holdings' US$139 million (S$179 million) hospital opened earlier in 2025 in the northern city of Tianjin, and is the first fully foreign-owned medical facility in the mainland. The hospital aims to derive 30 per cent of its revenue during its first year of operation from patients visiting from Russia to the Middle East and South-east Asia – hoping China will become an emerging destination for medical tourism that can compete with established regional rivals Singapore, Thailand and Japan. Perennial's focus on luring overseas patients to Tianjin came after China in 2024 moved to allow private hospitals to be fully owned by foreign entities, which had previously needed a Chinese business partner. China's health regulator has since encouraged the Tianjin facility to differentiate itself from the country's public hospitals, hospital president Daniel Liu said in an interview this week. 'Medical tourism has yet to become an industry in China, but it's showing promise. We hope to make the pie bigger,' he said. 'Some specialities in the Chinese healthcare system have grown in the past two decades, to a point that measures up to international standards.' Private healthcare providers have faced headwinds operating in China as the country's post-Covid economic slump weighed on their main clientele – expats and well-off domestic customers with commercial insurance coverage. Some private hospitals and clinics have closed shop in recent months, while others have had to lower their prices, according to local media. China can be appealing to medical tourists in part due to a speedier diagnosis and treatment process that can get slowed down by rigid referral systems and a lack of resources in other countries. Still, luring global patients to China for treatment – especially when it comes to entering the country – still faces hurdles. China doesn't currently have a visa option for medical tourism, and the visa-free programme it's rolled out to more than 40 countries sometimes only grants stays of under a month – too short for some patients needing to undergo surgery and subsequent recovery. Earlier in 2025, hospital chiefs and medical experts proposed creating a new visa for medical tourism at China's annual parliamentary session. The move to expand medical tourism also dovetails with Beijing's goal to encourage more inbound travel. Some northeast China hospitals are already frequented by patients from neighbouring Russia, while southern provinces are welcoming patients from South-east Asia as access to Chinese medical care becomes part of the government's tourism push, state agency Xinhua reported. Perennial's Tianjin hospital is even hoping to bring in patients from as far as the UK, where private care is pricey and long waiting lists for the National Health Service have delayed treatments and even diagnoses of certain conditions. To meet future demand from international clients, Perennial is working to recruit medical stuff from Singapore and finalize global medical insurance coverage, Mr Liu said. BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Business Wire
27-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Perennial and rTek Launch Strategic 10-Year Exclusive MMRV Partnership to Regenerate Globally Degraded Grasslands
BOULDER, Colo. & ALMATY, Kazakhstan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--rTek, an Almaty-based precision agriculture start up and nature-based solutions (NbS) carbon credits project developer, has selected Perennial, a global leader in measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification (MMRV) for environmental assets, as its exclusive soil carbon MMRV provider for the next 10 years to deliver high-integrity carbon credits globally. The first project aims to regenerate 500,000 hectares of degraded grasslands, support sustainable production and livelihoods, and establish quality assurance systems for sustainable grassland management in Kazakhstan. This collaboration aims to regenerate Kazakhstan's soils through sustainable agricultural land management, positioning Kazakhstan as a frontier market in global carbon finance. The partnership will leverage Perennial's expertise with Verra methodologies and core innovative technology - digital soil mapping (DSM) and advanced soil organic carbon (SOC) modeling - with rTek's local expertise in land management, design, and implementation of carbon projects. 'Kazakh farmers and government are excited yet skeptical about soil carbon credits. Now's the time to roll up our sleeves and show how real carbon market funding can kickstart regenerative agriculture. Perennial's super-accurate models, backed by our solid field data, are key to opening up these markets for Kazakhstan's 184 million hectares of rangeland. This partnership sends a strong message to the market: NbS is open for business in Kazakhstan.' — Stuart Bowlin, Managing Partner of rTek Supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), this initiative falls under the Kazakhstan Resilient Agroforestry and Rangeland Project, which promotes sustainable pasture management. The activity 'Support for Access to International Carbon Markets,' aims to demonstrate how carbon trade can serve as a catalyst for attracting private investments. By doing so, it seeks to enhance sustainable pastureland management, develop critical infrastructure, and facilitate access to international carbon markets for long-term financial sustainability. Set to begin baseline modeling in 2025, this initiative will implement advanced MMRV methodologies compliant with Verra's VM0032 standards, enabling accurate soil carbon credit generation and enhancing rTek's capacity to manage and expand grassland restoration. 'There's more carbon stored in soil than in the atmosphere and all vegetation combined—yet we've only just begun to tap into soil's potential as a climate solution. Grasslands, in particular, hold extraordinary promise. They cover nearly half the Earth's land surface and are often overlooked in climate plans, but their ability to store carbon and support rural livelihoods makes them one of our greatest opportunities for impact. With the right financial mechanisms and investment, we can reverse degradation and unlock natural carbon sinks at scale.' — Jack Roswell, CEO of Perennial The rTek–Perennial partnership is a first of its kind 10-year partnership between a Carbon Project Developer and an independent MMRV to tackle regenerating soils at large scale and marks a key milestone in advancing scalable, transparent NbS in emerging markets. Join rTek and Perennial in transforming 500,000+ hectares of Kazakhstan's long-degraded grasslands into a global example for sustainable agriculture and carbon sequestration. We invite investors and carbon credit buyers to partner with us to finance or offtake the highest possible integrity NbS removals carbon credits, driving scalable impact for climate, livelihoods, and NbS. About Perennial Perennial is a full-service MMRV (measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification) company that delivers certified, outcome-based measurements for any crop and any program—anywhere in the world. Its advanced digital soil mapping technology drastically reduces sampling needs and eliminates geographical limitations, making it the most cost-effective, streamlined, and scalable way to measure, report, and verify emissions reductions, carbon removal, and sustainable outcomes. Based in Boulder, CO, Perennial has raised $25M+ from leaders in climate, tech, ag, and carbon markets; GenZero, Bloomberg LP, Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, SineWave Ventures, and Augment Ventures. About rTek Founded in 2002 in Almaty, rTek is a leading Kazakhstan-based developer of carbon credits and nature-based solutions (NbS), with projects including KazBeef's sustainable grassland management, Kazakhstan's first biochar project, and Kazakhstan's first Article 6.2 project. Through its Terratune cloud platform built on Google Earth Engine, and innovative AgTech - including UAVs and AI-powered livestock monitoring, rTek delivers actionable insights to farmers, driving profitable and environmentally sound land management. Learn more at and
Straits Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Perennial to invest $178.9 million to open two hospitals in Guangzhou
Perennial Holdings will lease around 105,000 sq m in Yuesheng Plaza in China and invest $178.9 million to establish two healthcare institutions. PHOTO: PERENNIAL HOLDINGS Perennial to invest $178.9 million to open two hospitals in Guangzhou SINGAPORE – Integrated healthcare and real estate player Perennial Holdings on May 27 announced that it has entered into an agreement with Guangzhou Metro Group to establish a tertiary general hospital in Guangzhou, China. This will be Perennial's second wholly foreign-owned hospital in China, after it opened the 500-bed Perennial General Hospital Tianjin earlier in 2025. It will also be opening a specialist hospital, which will not be wholly foreign-owned. A spokesperson from Perennial told The Business Times that it may partner a specialist medical group to establish the specialist hospital. Under the agreement, the Singapore-based group will lease around 105,000 sq m in the south-east tower of Yuesheng Plaza, adjacent to the Baiyun high-speed railway (HSR) station, and invest around one billion yuan (S$178.9 million) to establish the two healthcare institutions. The two Guangzhou facilities will have a total planned capacity of more than 600 beds. The two will use a shared medical facilities and services concept, allowing doctors and medical groups to focus on providing medical consultations and treatments without investing in medical facilities and services. The shared medical platform will be provided and managed by Perennial, and will include facilities such as a clinical laboratory and advanced operating theatres. This concept is also being used in Perennial's Tianjin hospital. 'The model has been proven to offer convenience and cost efficiency to doctors and medical groups, allowing them to grow and scale their practices across Perennial's healthcare-centric HSR transit-oriented developments,' said the group. The spokesperson told BT: 'We also have some specialist medical groups (that) are keen to be co-located with us to leverage our shared medical platform and our extensive network of patients and doctors of various medical disciplines.' Work on the Guangzhou hospitals is expected to commence in July 2025 and be completed within one year. Mr Pua Seck Guan, executive chairman and chief executive of Perennial, noted: 'Guangzhou is a destination of choice for medical care. Our hospitals' strategic location in Guangzhou Baiyun's city centre and their proximity to the Baiyun HSR station provide access to a population catchment of over 100 million across the Greater Bay Area.' These hospitals come after China announced that it would permit wholly foreign-owned hospitals to be set up in nine trial regions – Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hainan – aimed at diversifying medical services for locals and foreigners. THE BUSINESS TIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Business Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Perennial to invest one billion yuan to open two hospitals in Guangzhou
[SINGAPORE] Integrated healthcare and real estate player Perennial Holdings on Tuesday (May 27) announced that it has entered into an agreement with Guangzhou Metro Group to establish a tertiary general hospital in Guangzhou, China. This will be Perennial's second wholly foreign-owned hospital in China, after it opened the 500-bed Perennial General Hospital Tianjin earlier this year. It will also be opening a specialist hospital, which will not be wholly foreign-owned. A spokesperson from Perennial told The Business Times that it may partner a specialist medical group to establish the specialist hospital. Under the agreement, the Singapore-based group will lease around 105,000 square metres in the south-east tower of Yuesheng Plaza, adjacent to the Baiyun high-speed railway (HSR) station, and invest around one billion yuan (S$178.9 million) to establish the two healthcare institutions. The two Guangzhou facilities will have a total planned capacity of more than 600 beds. The two will use a shared medical facilities and services concept, allowing doctors and medical groups to focus on providing medical consultations and treatments without investing in medical facilities and services. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up The shared medical platform will be provided and managed by Perennial, and will include facilities such as a clinical laboratory and advanced operating theatres. This concept is also being used in Perennial's Tianjin hospital. 'The model has been proven to offer convenience and cost efficiency to doctors and medical groups, allowing them to grow and scale their practices across Perennial's healthcare-centric HSR transit-oriented developments,' said the group. The spokesperson told BT: 'We also have some specialist medical groups (that) are keen to be co-located with us to leverage our shared medical platform and our extensive network of patients and doctors of various medical disciplines.' Work on the Guangzhou hospitals is expected to commence in July 2025 and be completed within one year. Pua Seck Guan, executive chair and chief executive of Perennial, noted: 'Guangzhou is a destination of choice for medical care. Our hospitals' strategic location in Guangzhou Baiyun's city centre and their proximity to the Baiyun HSR station provide access to a population catchment of over 100 million across the Greater Bay Area.' These hospitals come after China announced that it would permit wholly foreign-owned hospitals to be set up in nine trial regions – Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hainan – aimed at diversifying medical services for locals and foreigners.
