The 18th Straits Forum Health Sub-forum was held grandly in Xiamen, Fujian Province from June 12 to 14, 2026. With the theme “Empowering Healthcare Through Science, Technology and Digital Intelligence, Jointly Promoting Public Health”, the sub-forum centered on the core guideline of expanding civilian cross-strait exchanges and deepening integrated development, and fully implemented the strategy of prioritizing health development outlined in the 15th Five-Year Plan. As a featured academic session dedicated to cutting-edge medical innovations, the special forum on hydrogen-oxygen medicine garnered extensive attention.
More than 1,200 experts, scholars and young representatives from medical associations and institutions across China mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao attended the event. Among the attendees, over 320 people from 22 Taiwanese medical groups and institutions took part, including 149 young Taiwanese medical professionals. Cross-strait delegates exchanged warm sentiments, reviewed fruitful medical cooperation outcomes accumulated since the launch of the Straits Forum, and voiced the shared aspiration of boosting public health and wellbeing.
Zheng Zhe, Deputy Director of the National Health Commission, delivered an address at the opening ceremony on June 13. He reviewed historic achievements in the high-quality development of mainland healthcare during the 14th Five-Year Plan, and outlined key tasks for advancing medical reform under the comprehensive health-first strategy of the 15th Five-Year Plan.
He put forward three expectations for cross-strait medical practitioners: foster unity through integration to shoulder the mission of national rejuvenation, pioneer the future through innovation to jointly build a highland for healthy development and unite young talents to support exchanges and growth of medical students from both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
During the keynote session, Academician Zhong Nanshan of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Academician Lu Lin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences delivered speeches covering innovative development in respiratory medicine and other relevant topics.
At the hydrogen-oxygen medicine special session, Academician Zhong Nanshan, Director of the National Respiratory Center, delivered a keynote speech. He pointed out clearly that hydrogen-oxygen medicine is one of China’s few indigenous, fully self-developed and controllable interdisciplinary frontier medical technologies with a world-leading standing, serving as a landmark independent innovation achievement in biomedicine and gas medicine.
Academician Zhong noted that after long-term research by domestic medical workers, China has established a clinical and research system for hydrogen-oxygen medicine with distinct Chinese characteristics, ranking among the world’s top tiers in overall development. Through years of independent research and iterative upgrading, China has built complete scientific research, clinical application and industrial support systems for hydrogen-oxygen medicine, with domestically manufactured compliant medical devices continuously evolving toward lightweight and intelligent design.
Academician Zhong also emphasized the prerequisites for sound long-term development of hydrogen-oxygen medicine: the discipline must be rooted in evidence-based medicine, with rigorous and sufficient clinical research data to support technical implementation. Standardization shall be placed as a top priority.
By unifying clinical operating procedures, improving the industrial standard system and rectifying irregular practices, the discipline can overcome developmental weaknesses and fully shift from empirical exploration to a standardized, scientific and regulated development stage.
The highlight achievement of the special session was the official issuance of General Specifications for Clinical Application of Hydrogen-Oxygen Mixture Inhalation Therapy (T/CRHA 316—2026), approved by the Chinese Research Hospital Association.
This group standard was co-led and drafted by the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University (National Respiratory Medical Center), Peking Union Medical College Hospital and Shanghai Asclepius Meditec Co., Ltd., with more than 20 top tertiary hospitals nationwide including Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University participating in compilation.
The standard clearly defines clinical applicable scenarios, operational norms and application boundaries of hydrogen-oxygen inhalation therapy, laying a solid institutional foundation for standardized diagnosis, treatment and academic collaboration.
As one of the three co-leading drafting entities of this group standard, Shanghai Asclepius Meditec has devoted over a decade to hydrogen-oxygen medicine research.
Its proprietary hydrogen-oxygen generator adopts self-developed innovative electrolysis technology free of ion membranes and industrial strong alkalis, fundamentally eliminating two core risks inherent to traditional industrial hydrogen production routes: alkali corrosion in Alkaline Electrolysis Cell (AEC) technology and membrane degradation hazards in Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) technology. Technical risk explanation: Industrial AEC technology adopts 20–30% potassium hydroxide (KOH) alkaline electrolyte with strong corrosiveness. Volatile alkali mist or metal particles eroded under high temperature and pressure may irritate or chemically burn the respiratory tract upon inhalation.
Industrial PEM technology relies on perfluorosulfonic acid ion membranes categorized as persistent PFAS chemicals, which are hard to degrade and prone to bioaccumulation. No conclusive medical safety data exists regarding the long-term health hazards of their degradation products. This proprietary technology delivers stable output of medical-grade hydrogen-oxygen mixed gas, and has obtained qualification under the NMPA Special Approval Channel for Innovative Medical Devices, with 494 global patents granted.
The Asclepius hydrogen-oxygen generator is the world’s first hydrogen-oxygen inhalation device certified as a Class III medical device by NMPA (Registration No.: NMPA 20203080066/20233081929). In 2021, it obtained expanded approval for home care scenarios, becoming China’s first Class III active hydrogen medical device authorized for household use.
Supported by 109 SCI papers and in-depth partnerships with over 80 national top-tier tertiary hospitals, Asclepius Meditec provided core technical data and clinical experience to support the formulation of the group standard.
A: The sub-forum adopts the theme “Empowering Healthcare Through Science, Technology and Digital Intelligence, Jointly Promoting Public Health”. Over 1,200 participants from the China mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao attended, including more than 320 delegates from 22 Taiwanese medical groups and institutions.
A: He stated that hydrogen-oxygen medicine is one of China’s indigenous interdisciplinary frontier technologies that are fully self-controllable and hold a leading global position.
A: Asclepius Meditec is one of the three co-leading drafting organizations of the standard. Its core self-developed electrolysis technology requires no proton/ion membranes or industrial strong alkalis.
