The chief of a Chinese health care payments firm explained the procedures his company uses to protect patient data, calling that information "one of the key things we have to defend."

IHD Pay makes a digital payment system designed to cut costs for the health industry and reduce waiting times for patients. But holding those patients' data is a huge responsibility, especially in an era of high-profile cyberattacks.

"We pay tremendous amounts of attention ... to make sure that data privacy is well protected," Eric Ho, the group CEO at IHD Pay, said at the East Tech West conference in the Nansha district of Guangzhou, China.