The content-licensing deal includes WebMD articles, videos and slideshows covering medical and health topics, such as the side effects of chemotherapy or the symptoms of appendicitis. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. WebMD, which is owned by private-equity firm KKR & Co. and based in New York, said the deal will raise the quality of health-care information available to Chinese consumers. The content, slated to be rolled out by year’s end, will also be available on Tencent’s QQ messaging app. “There are tens of millions of people on WeChat today that are forming groups for specific disease information, whether it’s cancer or diabetes,” said Jeremy Schneider, senior vice president of corporate development and global strategy for WebMD. “There is a lot of talking amongst themselves, but there is not a lot of credible information.” Tencent will translate and adapt the content for Chinese audiences, as well as focus on diseases that are more prevalent in China, such as lung cancer, Meng Zhang, general manager of Tencent Healthcare Information Center, wrote in an email. “There are quite some differences between Chinese and Western demographics, medical practices and cultures,” Mr. Zhang wrote. “It is very important that we take into account these differences during the localization process.” Health care is a big—and growing—business in China, which is forecast to spend $1 trillion on health care by 2020, according to a report from McKinsey & Co. Its aging population is increasingly dealing with chronic conditions such as diabetes, but the health-care system doesn’t have enough general family doctors who can direct patients to the right treatments and specialists, said Philip Leung, head of the Greater China Healthcare practice for consulting firm Bain & Co. That leaves many people turning up at the hospital for care. Wait times can be so extreme that ticket scalpers book hospital appointments and then try to sell them for a big markup, a practice Beijing has started cracking down on, said Mark Natkin, managing director of research firm Marbridge Consulting. In recent years, China has expanded insurance coverage, encouraged the growth of private hospitals and pushed for digitizing medical records. To further improve care, China last year tapped Tencent to be a “national champion” to develop uses of artificial intelligence technology in medicine. Tencent has backed dozens of health-care companies both in China and around the world. Mr. Natkin said his firm has tracked at least 30 health-care-related investments since April 2012, and said there are probably more. Tencent declined to comment. The new WebMD services will compete against a growing number of companies providing not only medical information but also online tools that help Chinese consumers navigate the system. On WeDoctor, for example, users can consult doctors and book appointments online. The startup is backed by Tencent and slated to go public in Hong Kong later this year. Ping An Healthcare and Technology Co., which also provides online diagnosis and doctor-booking services, went public in May. —Fanfan Wang in Beijing contributed to this article. Copyright ©2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Chinese conglomerate Tencent will provide WebMD's health care content to the one billion-plus users of its WeChat social network and its QQ messaging app, in a content licensing deal due to roll out by the end of the year. The deal, which is expected to be announced at an event on Tuesday, marks Tencent's first foray into healthcare content. China, which has a stretched health care system and an ageing population, is forecast to spend $1tn on health care by 2020, according to McKinsey & Co.