FOREIGN investors have been given the green light to set up wholly owned hospitals in Shanghai and six other province-level jurisdictions, the government said yesterday.

The decision reflects China’s drive to open up the private health care sector as it seeks to take the pressure off the hard-hit state-run system.

Along with Shanghai, the cities of Beijing and Tianjin, and the provinces of Jiangsu, Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan are taking part in a pilot scheme that was launched last month, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.