Facilities essential to sector's future success

Online hospitals' development will depend on the establishment of more supporting facilities, including third-party franchised drugstores, medical examination centers and co-working surgery studios, said Wang Hang, founder and CEO of Haodf.com, one of the largest online healthcare companies in China.

Meanwhile, allowing doctors to have greater freedom to practice across multiple hospitals is another important factor, he said.

Haodf.com was launched in 2006 as a doctor review and inquiry website. In 2016, it established an online hospital in Yinchuan, capital of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.