Why foreign companies should not neglect China as a country for healthcare investments

      With the introduction of several healthcare reforms in the US and in the most developed countries of the European Union, executives at foreign companies might think that these are the best locations to invest their money in such industry. And they are not wrong. However, why not try other distant horizons… Let’s say, China?

      When investors think about the Middle Kingdom in terms of economics and business, they think on exports, manufacturing, cheap workforce, etc. However, one of the industries many experts fail to research about is the healthcare one. Despite one may think, China’s days of having their healthcare based on traditional Chinese medicine are long gone (In face, only 21% of their pharmaceutical industry is based on traditional medicine while 65% is centered around synthetic drug manufacturing). And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

      It is not old news that China is becoming attractive to foreign investors. However, it may come as a surprise that the Chinese healthcare sector is full of potential profits, and there is a long list of motives behind this fact:

Rapid growth rate of aging population

Ø  Government efforts to create better healthcare services

Ø  Rises in disposable incomes

Ø  Increased demand for quality healthcare services

Ø  Changing consumer lifestyles

Ø  Increasing penetration of medical insurance products

        Such reasons are opportunities for international hospital chains, pharmaceutical and media technology companies to seek geographic and revenue growth. To learn more: please keep reading our weekly columns that we will be posting on our “Healthcare” section.