The life and health industry is often called a sunrise sector that never declines, and in Huangshi that transformation is unfolding every day, linking the city's century-old industrial foundation with the cultivation of new quality productive forces.
At the 11th plenary session of the 14th Huangshi Municipal Committee, the city proposed promoting life and health and other emerging industrial clusters toward clustered, scaled, and chain-based upgrading, and developing new quality productive forces according to local conditions. Data show that Huangshi now has 101 life and health enterprises above the designated size or designated limit, with industry operating revenue of about 12.163 billion yuan, a full-caliber output value of 14.317 billion yuan for the broader health industry, and full-year industry output value expected to exceed 29.2 billion yuan.
Behind these figures, an industrial path stretching from factory floors to mountain fields and from manufacturing to ecology is accelerating into shape. In the production workshop of Hubei Xiekang Intelligent, more than 40 types of smart health devices are rolling off the line; in the product showroom of Renlai Rehabilitation, an electric hospital bed is demonstrating a full sequence from sitting up to standing upright. Between movement and stillness, the confidence of Huangshi's century-old industrial accumulation is on display.
From a complete chemical support system to experienced engineering and technical talent, from refined precision processing to efficient supply chain coordination, the city's deep industrial DNA is rapidly penetrating the pharmaceutical and health field. Huangshi adheres to clinical demand as the guide and independent innovation as the core, pushing continuous breakthroughs in medical devices, chemical pharmaceuticals, and other areas, and accelerating the leap from "Made in Huangshi" to "Intelligently Made in Huangshi."
Smart health stations
In the showroom of Hubei Xiekang Intelligent Medical Technology Co., Ltd., smart health stations stand neatly in rows like small square containers. Though compact, they are fully equipped with identity recognition ports, multi-dimensional health examinations, and self-service medicine pickup windows, with the entire set of equipment supported by independently developed software systems.
"Smart health stations target remote areas with weak medical resources and are also suitable for places with high personnel mobility such as airports, stations, and tourist attractions. When people suddenly have a headache or fever, or need monitoring for chronic diseases, they can receive services here. The equipment has already been put into use at the Yangxin Civic Center and Xiandao Lake Tourist Scenic Area," said Ke Zunguo, deputy general manager of Hubei Xiekang Intelligent Medical Technology Co., Ltd.
Users can complete various health tests on their own. After scanning a code, they can verify their identity and open the door. The device uses voice and animation to guide the entire process, allowing users to complete various health examinations by themselves. They can also connect with back-end doctors for video consultations. After the doctor issues a prescription online, settlement and direct medicine purchase can be completed on site.
As a dual-software enterprise, Xiekang Intelligent holds more than 200 software copyrights. The company insists on independent research and development as its main approach, works with universities and institutes in Wuhan, Guangzhou, and other places for technical collaboration, and customizes precision medical sensors to complete software-hardware integration. In its production plant of more than 10,000 square meters, more than 40 products have rolled off the line one after another, with annual equipment output capable of reaching more than 20,000 units. At present, the company's phase III project is being planned. After completion, it is expected to achieve an output value of 1 billion yuan within three years and provide health services to more than 50 million person-times each year.
From smart consultations protecting grassroots livelihoods to rehabilitation equipment tackling clinical pain points, local Huangshi enterprises are turning clinical needs into tangible medical benefits for the public. In the product showroom of Hubei Renlai Rehabilitation Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd., several large electric hospital beds stand out. General Manager Shi Zegao demonstrated on site the full set of movements of the bed sitting up, raising the legs, standing upright as a whole, and turning sideways.
Electric hospital beds
The birth of electric hospital bed products came from real demands on the clinical front line. Closely focusing on clinical pain points, the company developed China's first electric hospital bed with an invention patent, integrating the dual functions of an ordinary hospital bed and an electric standing bed.
"After patients stand up, the related risks caused by long-term bed rest can be reduced," Shi Zegao said. This type of bed has a domestic market share of more than 90% and is widely used in ICUs in major hospitals across the country. The equipment is also equipped with a non-invasive brain-computer interface expansion module. Wearing a head-mounted headband, patients can directly regulate the posture of the bed through motor imagination, without manual operation by caregivers. This application solution has already been implemented at Wuhan Union Hospital and Zhongnan Hospital. This year, the company's annual output of electric hospital beds can reach 2,000 units, with a target sales volume of more than 60 million yuan.
Behind the continuous breakthroughs in medical devices, Huangshi's pharmaceutical industry is also moving forward steadily, forging new strength in medicine. In the second injection workshop of Langtian Pharmaceutical (Hubei) Co., Ltd., the injection production line is running at high speed. Zhang Dezhu, general manager of Langtian Pharmaceutical (Hubei) Co., Ltd., said the company's production and sales increased by 40% year on year this year, and full-year output value is expected to approach 300 million yuan.
Langtian Pharmaceutical production workshop
"In earlier years we relied on a single variety, oxiracetam. Now we have more than 20 drugs, forming a product structure in which generic chemical drugs, improved innovative drugs, and multiple traditional Chinese medicines advance side by side," Zhang Dezhu said. The newly launched peramivir injection is specially used for the treatment of influenza A and influenza B, with full market orders, and it also undertakes national drug reserve tasks. At present, the company has three innovative drugs under research, including one chemical drug and two traditional Chinese medicines. If all complete clinical trials and achieve mass production, the company's overall production scale is expected to double.
Facing the broader industry context of centralized drug procurement, Langtian Pharmaceutical has proactively adjusted its development approach, focusing on varieties with large public market capacity and following a high-volume, inclusive production route. Relying on Huangshi's complete industrial foundation, the company connects nearby with local chemical raw materials and packaging supporting suppliers, balancing supply timeliness and effectively compressing comprehensive production costs.
From smart health testing terminals to critical care rehabilitation medical devices and then to modern chemical pharmaceuticals, every product is anchored to real market demand. Deep integration of industry, academia, and research, continuous breakthroughs in independent innovation, and hardcore intelligent manufacturing have built a solid foundation for Huangshi's life and health industry.
There are precision instruments in the workshop and the fragrance of herbs in the mountains. In recent years, Huangshi has practiced the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, deeply explored local medicinal and edible homologous characteristic resources, opened up the entire chain of "planting-processing-research, study, and cultural tourism," promoted Chinese medicinal materials from raw material output to brand operation, and turned mountain plants into popular health products in the market.
One local landscape nurtures one herb. "Yangxin perilla" is a standout calling card of Huangshi's medicinal materials. Entering Yangxin Yaoshantang Ecological Technology Co., Ltd., a series of products such as perilla oil capsules, perilla noodles, perilla peanuts, and perilla foot-soaking packs are neatly displayed.
Perilla series products
Ma Meizhi, chairman of Yangxin Yaoshantang Ecological Technology Co., Ltd., introduced that relying on joint research by the Shi Gengshui Model Worker Innovation Studio and Academician Chen Shilin's team, the company obtained 19 invention patents and deeply explored the utilization value of perilla. Ma Meizhi said perilla is a treasure from top to bottom: large stalks can be used to extract essential oil, small stalks can be processed into sleep-aid health pillows, and leaves and seeds can be developed into food and daily necessities, now forming more than 20 health products. In 2025, the output value of the entire Yangxin perilla industry chain reached 140 million yuan, and the expected output value of the chain this year is at least double. At present, the Yangxin perilla industry has driven 19 cooperatives, 21 leading enterprises, and 300 farmer households to participate together, with a planting area of 692 mu and the introduction of the new variety "Perilla No. 3." The "National Perilla Resource Atlas Construction Demonstration Base" has officially settled in Yangxin, jointly polishing the Yangxin perilla public brand. The products have a solid market foundation within the province, and there is still broad space for expansion into markets outside the province.
Not only does Yangxin perilla fragrance the mountains, but in the forests of Daye, Dendrobium officinale is telling the story of barren hills becoming a "green bank." Walking through the greenhouse base of Daye Kangzhitang Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., more than 2,000 mu of mountain forest are full of vitality. This is Huangshi's only national-level under-forest economy demonstration base and also a dual leading enterprise in agriculture and forestry in Hubei Province. Feng Haiming, head of Daye Kangzhitang, introduced that after 13 years of development, the company has opened up a complete three-industry integration chain of Chinese medicinal material planting, deep processing, and research-study cultural tourism. The base's unpowered greenhouses lead domestically in technology, using purely physical methods such as brick-layer board bedding and lime disinfection to carry out imitation-wild organic cultivation of Dendrobium officinale.
Imitation-wild organic cultivation of Dendrobium officinale
"Wild Dendrobium officinale originally grows in shady cliff environments. Its roots do not fully penetrate the soil and directly absorb water vapor from the air," Feng Haiming said, pointing to dendrobium plants climbing on wooden stakes. Dendrobium officinale ranks among the nine immortal herbs of ancient times. Modern research has confirmed that it can improve human immunity, and ancient texts record that "long-term use thickens the stomach and intestines," with auxiliary effects on regulating the stomach and intestines and improving the "three highs." The active ingredients of dendrobium are difficult to extract by simple tea brewing, and juicing or grinding into powder for drinking is more effective. The dendrobium noodles developed by the company have an independent invention patent. The base explores a comprehensive planting and breeding circular model of "sika deer-Dendrobium officinale," supports the construction of a deep processing workshop, and is also a research and practice base for Huangshi and Daye, having received expert teams from the Provincial Academy of Forestry for field research many times.
From characteristic medicinal materials to health food and drug processing, a group of leading enterprises continue to make efforts and continuously broaden the field of the life and health industry: Jingpai Chizhengtang Pharmaceutical continues to strengthen its efforts in the traditional Chinese medicine formula granule track, has established quality standards for 560 traditional Chinese medicine formula granules, applied for more than 30 national patents, completed national standard formulation work for 2 varieties, and completed an output value of 913 million yuan in 2025; Hubei Yuanda Life Science and Technology Co., Ltd. focuses on taurine products, with annual output reaching 25,000 tons, and 90% of products exported overseas, ranking among the top in the industry...
One landscape nurtures one local product. Relying on technology-enabled processing, herb plants that once grew deep in the mountains have left the fields and entered thousands of households, and ecological value is constantly being transformed into economic value and livelihood value. In Yangxin, a smart medical industrial park with a total investment of 420 million yuan is accelerating construction; in Daye, former barren slopes have transformed into a national-level under-forest economy demonstration base; in Wuhan Pharma Valley, Huangshi enterprises are precisely embedding themselves into supporting links of the industrial chain.
The direction in which enterprises place their bets reflects the gravitational pull of the industrial ecosystem. Based on its own industrial foundation, Huangshi actively integrates into the development pattern of the Wuhan metropolitan area, undertakes the spillover of Wuhan's pharmaceutical innovation achievements, explores a collaborative model of "R&D in Wuhan, transformation and production in Huangshi," and, with the industrial chain chief system as the starting point, strengthens supporting facilities, optimizes services, and builds platforms, continuously promoting the iterative growth of life and health industrial clusters.
A group of local entrepreneurs who made their way outside have brought technology and capital back to their hometown, injecting surging private enterprise strength into the development of the life and health industry. Xiekang Intelligent General Manager Pan Xiwen returned to lay out operations, investing 420 million yuan to build the Yangxin Smart Medical Industrial Park; Renlai Rehabilitation, relying on Guangzhou's mature industrial foundation, responded to the call of its hometown and settled in Yangxin, introducing Jiuzhoutong Capital for deep cooperation; Kangzhitang's Feng Haiming revitalized idle barren mountains in Daye, upgrading the slopes into a national-level under-forest economy demonstration base. While enterprises land, they also drive the clustering of supporting facilities. Xiekang Intelligent brings more mature smart health technologies and empowers the development of local grassroots medical and health undertakings; Langtian Pharmaceutical makes full use of Huangshi's local industrial supply chain, based on the positioning of production capacity supporting in the Wuhan metropolitan area's industrial cluster, and precisely connects with the supporting needs of the Wuhan Pharma Valley industrial chain...
The steady and long-term development of the life and health industry cannot be separated from the government setting up the stage and paving the way. A closed-loop service system escorts the industry on its long journey. Huangshi strictly implements the industrial chain chief system for the life and health industry, holds quarterly chain chief work promotion meetings, regularly goes down to enterprises for visits, holds industrial chain and supply chain supply-demand matchmaking meetings, plans and carries out "medical enterprises face to face" activities, and opens channels for local medical devices to enter medical institutions and medical insurance procurement platforms.
Fuchi Yuanda Pharmaceutical Industrial Park
It seizes the opportunity of Huahu Airport as an international air cargo hub and organizes enterprises to connect with pharmaceutical cold chain logistics channels; implements the "three entries" work for local products, connecting point to point with medical institutions to expand the local market; and simultaneously guides enterprises to carry out credit brand building and implements various policies and project support. A number of major projects, including Yuanda Pharmaceutical Yongsheng Preparation and the Chengfa Great Health Smart Medical Production Base, are accelerating construction.
Based on its existing foundation, Huangshi is steadily advancing toward the goal of a higher-quality life and health industry. Facing the "15th Five-Year Plan," Huangshi will anchor key directions including modern traditional Chinese medicine, biopharmaceuticals, high-end medical devices, and deep processing of agricultural and sideline products, carry out gap-filling investment promotion, strengthen guarantees for land, capital, and talent factors, continuously open channels for the transformation of industry-academia-research achievements, and deeply connect with innovation resources in the Wuhan metropolitan area.
Machines in the workshops surge without rest, medicinal herbs in the mountains grow joint by joint, from innovative R&D to achievement transformation, from raw material planting to deep processing, from local cultivation to regional coordination, Huangshi is turning its industrial heritage, ecological advantages, and hometown sentiment into tangible industrial competitiveness, injecting strong momentum into "building a coordinated zone, building a growth pole, and jointly building a support point."
News Commentary
Gathering strength for renewal in eastern Hubei
In industrial competition, one should look not only at scale and volume, but also at the quality of innovation, the resilience of the chain, and the warmth of livelihood. The life and health industry connects economic development on one end and people's well-being on the other. Only by adhering to innovation-driven development, deeply cultivating industrial integration, and solidly providing platform services can resource endowments be transformed into industrial advantages, and can emerging industries truly become a strong engine for urban growth.
Gathering strength for renewal lies in breaking through with innovation and cultivating hardcore strength. The core of new quality productive forces is innovation, and its footing is industry. The life and health industry is a technology-intensive track and cannot simply copy the old path of low-end manufacturing. It must closely focus on real market and clinical needs for research and development, and open up collaborative transformation channels among industry, academia, and research. From Xiekang Intelligent bringing smart health stations into scenic areas and grassroots communities, to Renlai Rehabilitation conquering domestic substitution for critical-care electric hospital beds, to Langtian Pharmaceutical accelerating the layout of multiple innovative drugs, the common experience of these enterprises is that they must both keep a close eye on "from 0 to 1" technological breakthroughs and also ground product implementation based on scenarios, so that laboratory results can leave the showroom and enter the market.
Gathering strength for renewal lies in industrial integration and deeply tapping ecological value. The stage of the life and health industry is not limited to production workshops; vast rural areas are also fertile ground for industry. Lucid waters and lush mountains are both ecological wealth and capital for common prosperity. Yangxin perilla has changed from wild grass in the mountains into more than 20 health products, and Daye Dendrobium officinale has turned more than 2,000 mu of barren slopes into a "green bank." Based on local agricultural and forestry resources, promoting deep integration of manufacturing with agriculture, health care, and cultural tourism, and stepping out of a single production mindset can drive the transformation of "mountain forest resources" into "economic capital," lengthen the value chain, broaden the income surface, and achieve mutual reinforcement of ecological, economic, and social benefits.
Gathering strength for renewal lies in building platforms and empowering development, and optimizing the industrial ecosystem. The rise of industrial clusters depends both on enterprises running hard and on the government carefully building platforms. An industrial chain is not a simple addition of enterprises; it is necessary to strengthen the chain, clear bottlenecks, and ensure factor guarantees and coordinated linkage. Huangshi makes good use of the industrial chain chief system, goes down to serve enterprises, and promotes supply-demand matchmaking; undertakes the innovation spillover of Wuhan Pharma Valley and explores the collaborative model of "R&D in Wuhan, transformation and production in Huangshi"; seizes the opportunity of Huahu Airport to lay out pharmaceutical cold chain and open channels for local products to enter medical institutions. Investment promotion fills shortcomings, policy services solve difficulties, and coordinated linkage gathers synergy, allowing enterprises to dare to invest and be able to develop, linking individual market entities into an industrial cluster of mutual supporting and shared prosperity.
The flourishing of the life and health industry is precisely a vivid practice of Huangshi developing new quality productive forces according to local conditions. With innovation as the spear to break through, integration as the path to expand space, and service as the soil to cultivate ecology, Huangshi's life and health industry will surely continue to amplify its clustering effect.