HONG KONG (Reuters Breakingviews) - Forget autonomous driving: The latest digital buzzword is medtech. Investors at last week's annual RISE technology conference in Hong Kong talked up a coming healthcare artificial-intelligence revolution, and the hype is as palpable in Silicon Valley. Chinese firms are well positioned to take the lead. U.S. venture capital funds poured over $12 billion into local biotech, pharmaceutical, and medical-device upstarts in the first half of this year, according to data from Pitchbook, on track to surpass last year's record of $17 billion. Investments in the country's life sciences sector doubled to $12 billion last year, according to ChinaBio Consulting, and accelerated to more than $5 billion in the first quarter of 2018, led by prolific backers like Qiming Ventures and Sequoia Capital China.

HONG KONG, July 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Forget autonomous driving: The latest digital buzzword is medtech. Investors at last week's annual RISE technology conference in Hong Kong talked up a coming healthcare artificial-intelligence revolution, and the hype is as palpable in Silicon Valley. Chinese firms are well positioned to take the lead. Biometric and genome data - everything from blood pressure readings to tissue samples and DNA - are transforming the industry, from the way pharmaceutical firms discover drugs to how doctors diagnose patients. The hunt is on for better, and cheaper, treatments.