Survey Finds Over 70% of Chinese Doctors Recommend “AI Doctor Services” Like Ant Group’s AQ for Everyday Health Needs

A recent survey by Life Times, a well-known Chinese public health media outlet, shows that AI doctor services are broadly supported by doctors in China. Among 500 physicians from the country’s top-tier (tertiary) hospitals, more than 70% said they would recommend AI doctor services to patients for everyday health questions and routine health management.

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Ant Group’s AQ was the most frequently recommended platform in the survey. The latest figures show that, as of January 2026, the app had accumulated 30 million monthly active users and answers over 10 million health-related questions daily, making it China’s leading AI-native health app.

AQ—known in Chinese as Ant A-Fu—is an AI-native health app launched by Ant Group in June 2025. Designed to address common, everyday health concerns and support healthy habit formation, AQ focuses on users’ routine health needs that don’t yet require a hospital visit. Check out this video to see how it works:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mZwB0djjcDo

The platform connects users to digital services from 5,000 hospitals, online consultations with 300,000 doctors nationwide, and assistance from over 500 AI Doctor Agents co-developed with top physicians and key hospital departments across China.

Although AQ does not provide medical diagnoses or replace licensed physicians, doctors surveyed said they value AI doctor services for their ability to handle large volumes of patient questions without time or location constraints. Respondents noted that AI systems draw on extensive domain knowledge, can handle large volumes of consultations, respond patiently, and help ease patient anxiety—particularly for routine or repetitive inquiries.

AQ has also partnered with leading physicians across China to launch their AI Doctor Agents on the platform. These agents are trained on each doctor’s clinical experience and provide free responses to users’ health questions. Collectively, the AI Doctor Agents have answered more than 27 million health inquiries in 2025.

One example is Mao Hongjing, Deputy Director of Hangzhou Seventh People’s Hospital and a nationally recognized sleep specialist. Before adopting AI, Mao could treat roughly 10,000 patients per year in person. In contrast, his AI Doctor Agent on AQ has responded to inquiries from 3.68 million users within a single year.

Beyond patient-facing use, the survey found that over 60% of doctors already use AI doctor services to support their work, while over 90% are optimistic about the future development of AI doctors.

The use of AI in healthcare is taking place against the backdrop of China’s demographic shift. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, by the end of 2024, China had 310 million people aged 60 or above, accounting for 22% of the population. Projections from the World Health Organization indicate that this share could rise to nearly 28% by 2040.

An aging population is expected to drive greater demand for healthcare services. According to Grand View Research, China’s AI in healthcare market is projected to grow from US$ 1.6 billion in 2023 to nearly US$ 19 billion by 2030.

To meet this rising demand, hospitals and physicians across China are partnering with technology companies to explore how AI can improve healthcare efficiency while expanding access to quality medical services for a broader population.

About Ant Group
Ant Group is a global digital technology provider and the operator of Alipay, a leading internet services platform in China, connecting over one billion users to more than 10,000 types of consumer services from partners. Through innovative products and solutions powered by AI, blockchain and other technologies, Ant Group supports partners across industries to thrive through digital transformation in an ecosystem for inclusive and sustainable development. For more information, visit www.antgroup.com.

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