About Chinese Medicine Hospital Project

Policy Objectives

The Policy for the future development of Chinese medicine (CM) was enshrined in the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Article 138 of the Basic Law provides that “the Government of the Hong Kong Administrative Region shall, on its own, formulate policies to develop western and traditional CM and to improve medical and health services.”

In 2013 Policy Address, the Government announced the decision to set up the Chinese Medicine Development Committee that year, which focuses its studies on policies and measures to further the development of CM industry. Further to that, the Government announced in the 2014 Policy Address that a site has been reserved in Tseung Kwan O for setting up a Chinese medicine hospital (CMH).

The Government later announced in the 2017 Policy Address that it would finance the construction of the CMH and identify by tender a suitable non-profit making organisation (NPMO) to manage, operate and maintain the hospital.

In the 2018 Policy Address, the Government re-affirmed the positioning of CM as an integral part of healthcare system in Hong Kong. Specifically, the future CMH will provide a combination of government-subsidised inpatient and outpatient services, 18 Chinese Medicine Clinics cum Training and Research Centres will offer government-subsidised outpatient services at the district level, and specific public hospitals of the Hospital Authority will continue to provide government-subsidised inpatient services with Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine treatment. The aforementioned three components are complementary in terms of service areas, which will provide a comprehensive network for the delivery of government-subsidised CM services.

In the same year, the Health Bureau (the former Food and Health Bureau) set up a Chinese Medicine Hospital Project Office to oversee the development of the CMH project, and to take forward the planning, tendering, construction and commissioning of the CMH as well as the commissioning of a suitable NPMO to operate the CMH.