Raffles Medical now has two Chinese hospitals in the pipeline

It turns out the one in Shanghai won’t be its first outside Singapore.

Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Chongqing Liangjiang New Area Administrative Committee, Raffles Medical announced the acquisition of a piece of land with a building under construction for the development of a 700-bed international tertiary hospital for $38m (RMB188m).

According to DBS Asian Insights, the hospital that is under construction is located in the New North District of the Liangjiang New Area in Chongqing. The said district is an economic administrative zone which includes Chongqing Economic and Technological Development Zone, Chongqing HighTech Industrial Development Zone, and Chongqing Export Processing Trade Zone.

It is expected to be completed by 2Q18, ahead of Raffles Medical's Shanghai Hospital which is targetted to be finished by end 2018.

"This bodes well with Raffles’ long-term plans to expand its footprint in China, and complements its Shanghai hospital, and plans to build new hospitals in Beijing and Shenzhen," noted DBS Asian Insights.

It added, "We believe there will be near-term positive sentiment following the announcement based on past experience when Raffles announced plans to expand into Shanghai. However, execution is key, with the opening of two big hospitals in 2018 / 2019 in a new market for Raffles Medical."