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TikTok owner ByteDance relaunches online health care apps amid restructuring
- China’s online health care market is forecast to reach US$30 billion this year
- ByteDance faces stiff competition, as it goes up against larger rivals such as Baidu Health, Alibaba Health, Tencent-backed WeDoctor and JD Health
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ByteDance, owner of popular short video-sharing app TikTok, has relaunched its online health care apps under the new Xiaohe platform, taking on more established services in China backed by the likes of Baidu, Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings and JD.com. This move follows the restructuring of ByteDance’s education business.
Consumers on Xiaohe, which translates to “little lotus” in Chinese, can consult registered doctors online and make use of a digital medical encyclopaedia that has more than 31,800 entries. Medical consultation is free for first-time users as part of a promotion.
Also under this platform is the Xiaohe Doctor app, which provides registration and identity checks for doctors before they are authorised to connect with Xiaohe’s users.
Tech unicorn ByteDance’s efforts in online health care started roughly a year ago when it launched patient community Xiangyu. This was later rebranded as Lvsongguo, which means “green pine cone” in Chinese, for users to get medical information and take part in a forum to share their experience, according to the app’s version history on Apple’s App Store.
Lvsongguo was consolidated into the Xiaohe platform three weeks ago.
Xiaohe also runs a mini program on Jinri Toutiao, the news aggregator also owned by ByteDance, which allows users to access consultation services without downloading the online health care app. This mini program is operated by ByteDance subsidiary Beijing Shake Youth Technology Co.
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