Hong Kong residents living in Shenzhen will soon be able to join the city's public health-care scheme and enjoy cheaper medical services.
Shenzhen Health Bureau director Jiang Hanping said the city would allow people from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan living in Shenzhen to join its public health-care scheme, allowing them the same benefits as other Shenzhen residents.
The city government pays up to 90 per cent of the medical expenses members incur at designated public hospitals, said a Shenzhen Labour and Social Security Bureau employee.
The bureau is also working with international insurers to allow more Shenzhen hospitals to accept medical insurance from Hong Kong and overseas, the Southern Metropolis News reported.
Mr Jiang said the move would provide greater convenience to Hong Kong people and foreigners working or living in the city.
Shenzhen will build a new hospital in the Nanshan district to provide medical services to patients from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. It has also designated three other hospitals to cater to these patients, Mr Jiang told Vice-Minister of Health Huang Jiefu , who is in Shenzhen on an inspection tour.
The health bureau director did not elaborate on the plan.