Malaysian hospital operator IHH Healthcare, an investor in Hong Kong’s private Gleneagles Hospital, will take a proactive approach to further expand its presence in China, seeking to tap the growing appetite for private health care among the rising middle class. Tan See Leng, Chief Executive of IHH, said the company would focus on the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Bohai Bay and central and western parts of China. “We have enough reserves to continue to fund our expansions in China,” Tan told reporters during a conference in Shanghai. “We believe this is a huge growth market.” He wouldn’t disclose the size of the potential investments in China, but added that IHH would consider merging with existing operators or buying them outright to reinforce its foray into the market. China will become IHH’s fifth market after Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey and India, Tan said. The company aims to become a market leader in China’s foreign-funded private hospital sector, and has already broken ground on a CNY1.36 billion hospital in the Hongqiao area of Shanghai. The 450-bed Gleneagles Shanghai Hospital, expected to open in 2020, will focus on several key specialties including cardiology, cardiac surgery, gastroenterology, urology, minimally invasive surgery, general surgery and internal medicine. China relaxed rules on foreign investment in health care in 2014 allowing the establishment of private hospitals with 100% foreign ownership. About 200 of China’s private hospitals have foreign shareholders, the South China Morning Post reports.