China’s healthcare sector is a growing goldmine for investors looking to hedge their money in a safe industry. Private drug makers and hospitals are among the biggest bright spots for investors across the country of China, as there is high potential for such investment there.
The rising income level of the population, coupled with the aging population ratio, is a good sign for the healthcare sector to grow even further and become a good spot for investors to put their money in.
“Healthcare has been the single area that probably everyone can foresee globally as an enormous amount of capital and investment,” said Peter Fuhrman who is the chairman of China First Capital while speaking at the Asia Private Equity Forum in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
The World Health Organization has revealed some startling numbers about the population in China aged above 60. The population of people above 60 in the region is expected to cross 240 million by the end of 2020. The younger generations to come will be put under immense pressure because of the country’s one-child policy implemented in 1979. The younger generation will have to tend to seniors, without having any external support.
A report by the consultancy firm McKinsey and Company has given further insight into the Chinese healthcare market. The report has predicted that the Chinese healthcare market will become a US$1 trillion entity by the end of 2020.
Li Bin, who is the Chief Executive of the Ally Bridge LB Healthcare Fund, believes that there is still a long way left for private hospitals to overtake government ones. Currently, government hospitals have a better infrastructure in place and they attract better doctors because of better pay.
“Five years ago, I said it would take 10 years for private hospitals to mature in China, now I think it would take another 10 years,” Li said.
“The common approach now is to bring someone from the industry from outside and see if the person can survive in the mainland market,” he further added.
Judith Li, who is a part of the Lilly Asia Ventures also spoke at the forum and mentioned, “China has so many white spaces where there is nothing exists, and it’s very compelling.” “If you can bring it [a drug] from the US, you can then avoid the fundamental scientific risk of developing something that’s completely unavailable,” she further added.