The creation of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin in 2021 brought new opportunities for locally invested companies. In this context, True Health, founded in Beijing in 2018, officially moved its headquarters to Hengqin in August 2023 and registered a fully-owned local subsidiary. According to founder and president Cheong Hou Iam, “The political and geographical advantages of the Cooperation Zone offer fertile ground for tech companies,” she told PLATAFORMA. The company was also included among the first ‘post-listing reserve companies’ — firms with high potential for future listing, pre-selected or placed on a watchlist for potential admission to the stock exchange in Hengqin.
Unlike many Macau-based companies that focus on the local market, True Health actively explores the medical device sector in Mainland China. Its products are used in over 70 medical institutions across the country, positioning it as a market leader. “As a Macau-based company, being able to compete and lead in the mainland market is a great honour,” said Cheong Hou Iam.
However, Cheong acknowledges that despite successful implementation in dozens of hospitals nationwide, the adoption of their products in Macau and Hengqin remains relatively limited. She added, “The Cooperation Zone achieved notable results in the first phase, but there is still much room for improvement in promoting the application of innovative achievements and supporting reputable companies \[that could represent Hengqin’s development].”
To address this, the company is taking several measures: continuous product upgrades and deepening cooperation with top hospitals to boost competitiveness. It also plans to leverage the Cooperation Zone’s international platform to seek global certification of its medical devices and expand into Southeast Asia and Portuguese-speaking countries.
To tackle the industrial land shortage in Hengqin, the company established its headquarters in the Macau Youth Entrepreneurship Valley in Hengqin — also known as ‘Inno Valley HQ’ — and plans to build a laboratory center there. Strategically, True Health has distributed its manufacturing operations across the Zhuhai and Hainan High-Tech Industrial Development Zones, forming a regional collaborative development model.
Technological Innovation
The “Navigation and Positioning System for Puncture Surgery” was approved for commercial use by China’s National Medical Products Administration in June 2023 and recognized as a “national pioneering” key technology. In September 2024, the company launched an upgraded version — the “Navigation, Positioning, and Ablation System for Puncture Surgeries” — which received commercial certification and was classified as a “global pioneer.” It also became the first product to receive official certification in Hengqin.
“These two products integrate navigation technology, respiratory tracking, and microwave ablation, overcoming the traditional dependence on the surgeon’s experience in puncture procedures and significantly enhancing surgical accuracy and efficiency,” explained Cheong Hou Iam.
Puncture surgery is a common medical procedure used mainly for tissue sampling for pathological examination and for applying microwave energy in tumor ablation treatments. However, as target organs like the lungs or liver lie deep within the body and are affected by breathing, traditional surgeries heavily rely on the doctor’s expertise, creating high operational risks. True Health tackled this clinical challenge using AI navigation and robotic assistance, significantly reducing surgical complexity and providing patients with safer, more precise treatment options.
By April 2025, True Health’s products had been used in nearly 5,000 surgeries at over 70 medical institutions in China, achieving a 100% success rate.
According to Li Jizhao, the company’s Director of Public Affairs, all of True Health’s products and technologies are developed in-house. The navigation and positioning system for puncture surgery, as well as the microwave ablation system, both created by the team led by Cheong Hou Iam, have already obtained five Class III (high-risk) medical device registration certificates and nearly 300 patent applications. These technological advances not only replace imported robotic arms but represent a leap forward in China’s capacity for developing advanced medical equipment locally.
Class III medical devices, such as cardiac stents and joint prostheses, directly impact patient safety and are subject to strict reviews — they are the most heavily regulated category.
Clinically, the company collaborates with Professor He Jianxing’s thoracic surgery team at the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University to advance clinical trials. Real surgery feedback has been essential for improving product accuracy and optimizing functionality.
Resource Integration
Since setting up in Hengqin, True Health has actively integrated resources from both Hengqin and Macau to accelerate technological development and industrialization. According to Cheong Hou Iam, the company has partnered with the University of Macau and other local institutions, received support from the Science and Technology Development Fund in 2022, and has participated multiple times in the Macau International Fair (MIF) to multiply business opportunities.
In Hengqin, it secured investment from the government-led fund of the Cooperation Zone and won first place in the 3rd Hengqin International Scientific Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. “The Cooperation Zone’s tax incentives, support for R\&D and biomedicine, and the entrepreneurship-friendly ecosystem have attracted companies in the value chain and created a superior environment for tech innovation,” Cheong Hou Iam told PLATAFORMA.
Additionally, True Health is strengthening collaboration with medical institutions in the Greater Bay Area, promoting its technology at academic conferences and on social media, and leveraging national centralized procurement policies to speed up market entry.
The company is experiencing robust revenue growth, with an annual increase of over 300%. Forecasts point to revenue exceeding RMB 100 million (around MOP 113 million) in 2025. Cheong Hou Iam believes that “integration with the Greater Bay Area market will effectively compensate for the limitations of the Hengqin-Macau market, creating favorable conditions for national expansion of innovative products.” For the second phase of the Cooperation Zone, she hopes policies will further support the commercialization of innovations and provide more opportunities for Macau-based companies to grow nationwide.
