Hong Kong has a burgeoning status within Greater China as an advanced therapy hub. The Special Administrative Region boasts clinical trial expertise, internationally aligned regulation, a lack of price caps, and the recently minted ability to produce cell and gene therapies within the city. This means that, today, more new treatments are available in Hong Kong than on the mainland.
Mainland Chinese citizens and patients, especially among the booming middle classes in the country’s southern provinces, are taking note. Many of this huge cohort have started to take out insurance in Hong Kong to secure access to healthcare in the city, with Hong Kong insurance acting as an ‘access enabler’ to advanced therapies like cell and gene. This is especially true for patients with the means to travel or who live in the Greater Bay Area; who are facing conditions with limited or no treatment options under mainland coverage; or who want more control over their care, timeline, and provider choice.
The numbers are already startling. Last year, mainland Chinese tourists spent HKD 62.8 billion (USD eight billion) on life and medical policies, up 6.5 percent from 2023, according to the Insurance Authority. Meanwhile, according to the Chinese broker uSMART, in Q1 2024 alone, mainlanders accounted for HKD 20.24 billion (USD 2.58 billion) in new insurance premiums in Hong Kong, a 62.5 percent increase from the previous year. Additionally, according to a 2023 survey from the strategy consultancy Oliver Wyman, nearly half of mainland Chinese visitors to Hong Kong intend to buy insurance, with health and critical illness policies leading demand.
For savvy, internationally minded mainlanders, the insurance products on offer in Hong Kong stack up well against those at home. As the uSMART reporting highlights, Hong Kong’s Voluntary Health Insurance provides global protection, while critical illness policies in the city offer higher leverage and cover early-stage conditions compared to policies in mainland China.
Additionally, the city boasts a mature health insurance ecosystem with a willingness to discuss new models of healthcare financing, including cell and gene therapies. Then there is the fact that mainland policies often require annual underwriting, while Hong Kong guarantees automatic renewal until age 100. Finally, Hong Kong insurance policies can be settled in HKD, USD, or RMB, making it easier for high-net-worth mainlanders to deploy offshore funds.
Greater integration across the Greater Bay Area is already seeing Hong Kongers take out insurance policies north of the border to access more affordable medical and residential care. However, in the opposite direction – as Hong Kong doubles down on its commitment to advanced therapy research, production, and access – expect to see even more mainlanders taking out health insurance in the city in the coming years.
