(Yicai Global) Oct. 20 -- Growing ranks of Chinese electrical appliance manufacturers are branching out into the medical market.

BOE Technology Group Co. [SHE:000725] announced its plan to build a digital medical service center in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province, a few months after the acquisition of a Shanghai-based hospital by Haier Group Co.

The A-share listed arm of BOE Technology will investment USD909 million (CNY6 billion) in the development of the BOE (Chengdu) Digital Medical Center, the firm disclosed in a recent statement. As a "tertiary" for-profit hospital specializing in cardiovascular and orthopedic disease and cancer treatment, rehabilitation, gynecology and pediatrics, the center will offer medical care, teaching, research and public health care services, and have a market reach spanning Chengdu, Sichuan and the rest of the southwestern region, and provide about 2,000 beds. Construction will end in late September 2019, and the hospital will come into operation in late 2020.

This is the second hospital BOE Technology has built. The firm previously acquired Oasis International Hospital in Beijing, and construction is already complete of its first self-owned hospital in Hefei, capital of east-central Anhui province.

While consolidating its leading position in the display screen market, BOE Technology has been driving a shift of its business toward  an Internet of Things technology developer and diversifying its product lines to include sensor devices and other related businesses, such as smart medical care and retail, Zhang Yu, the firm's vice president, told Yicai Global.

Other home appliance producers such as Haier and Midea Group Co. [SHE:000333] have also decided to enter the medical industry. The former's subsidiary, Haier Group (Qingdao) Financial Holdings Co., took over Shanghai Yongci Rehabilitation Hospital, and plans to turn it into China's largest online-and-offline rehabilitation service platform. The hospital will have 10,000 beds and generate CNY2.5 billion in revenue by 2020, Haier stated.

Midea and Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings Corp. have entered into a strategic partnership to collaboratively develop robotics and medical devices, health data applications, medical investment and intelligent manufacturing businesses.