BEIJING, March 22 (Xinhua) -- China's Minister of Health, Gao Qiang, is encouraging foreign investors to open joint venture hospitals in which they can own as much as 70 percent of the private medical facility.

    "Foreign invested hospitals will be strictly supervised by the Chinese government but there will no intervention in the economic management of these hospitals," Gao said.

    Ninety-six percent of China's medical and health resources go into public hospitals, which Gao says is to high. He said the government will put forward a series of reforms in this field to allow more private investment in the country's medical services.

    Liu Dong, a representative of the International Financial Corporation (IFC) which is affiliated with the World Bank, told the "China Health Care Public-Private Partnership Forum 2007" on Wednesday that IFC plans to invest 700 million U.S. dollars in the Chinese market this year and hopes some of it will be in the medical sector.

    IFC has already invested in two joint venture hospitals in China.

    Statistics showed that China had 18,703 hospitals in 2005, including 2,027 private hospitals.

    As the incomes of Chinese citizens increase demand for private medical services has surged. Experts say this provide enormous investment opportunities for foreign capital.

    However, more preferential policies are needed to encourage the private and foreign-funded hospitals in China, said Wang Zongyao, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Hospital Association.