Chinese Healthcare Market

 --promising and challenging--

Before spearheading into the Chinese healthcare market, our clients need to have a good understanding of:

The Chinese healthcare market has been one of the fastest growing healthcare markets in the world over the last decade, exceeding 16% annual growth over the last decade. Underpinning such phenomenal growth is a combination of multiple factors including an enhanced living standard, growth of the aging population, increasing healthcare awareness, and market oriented industrial reforms. As a result, rapid changes in consumer market and policy-making occurred, and the industrial landscape remained in a dynamic motion, which imposes great challenges for both domestic and foreign players. 

Some significant industrial reforms taking place are the implementation of a national basic healthcare insurance plan, New Drug Registration, GMP upgrading, OTC retailing, hospital reforms, and strengthening drug safety and intellectual property protection. Not surprising, foreign multinational giants have adopted different operating styles and marketing plans in face of different consumer behaviors, distribution channels and group buying. The gradual transition into a free market economy has also created a complimentary need between Chinese healthcare companies and small and medium sized American companies. The former have distribution channels but lack proprietary products; the latter have proprietary products but lack distribution channels in China. 

In recent news, the central government of China announced a planned investment valued at $120 million U.S. dollars for drug development over the next three years.  This announcement was from Shanghai on May 1, 2002. 

For more information, please visit the CHCC Archive

Contact us if you need help entering the rapidly growing Chinese industry or if you need additional information about this window of opportunity.