China to ease curbs on foreign medical JVs
Print Edition
CHINA will ease curbs on foreign investment in joint-venture hospitals, the government said yesterday, as it deepens a sweeping overhaul of its healthcare system aimed at cutting costs and sprucing up overloaded public services.
China is an appealing market for pharmaceutical firms and medical-equipment makers, with spending in the industry expected to nearly triple to US$1 trillion by 2020 from US$357 billion in 2011, according to consulting firm McKinsey.
In a healthcare reform plan for 2014 published on its website, China’s Cabinet, the State Council, said it aimed to relax limits on foreign investment in hospitals on the mainland.
The plan would include “reducing restrictions on the percentage of foreign ownership in medical JVs and collaborations,” it said.
The move would increase the number of locations where Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau investors could set up wholly-owned medical centers, and let overseas investors establish wholly-owned hospitals in areas such as the Shanghai pilot free trade zone.
The statement gave no details on the timing of the move.
China’s private healthcare sector has drawn investment from both domestic and overseas firms as the government opens it up to attract funds and reduce the burden on public hospitals.
Healthcare providers such as Singapore-based Raffles Medical Group Ltd, Malaysia’s IHH Healthcare Bhd and US-listed Chindex International Inc already operate in China. TPG Capital and China’s Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group bought Chindex in a US$461 million deal last month.
“You’re seeing a wholesale shift with greenfield hospitals and public-to-private conversions,” said Alexander Ng, Hong Kong-based associate principal at McKinsey.
“Private equity funds, both local and foreign, as well as a number of conglomerates, are all heading into that area to meet the demand.”
The ambitious overhaul also aims to bolster insurance coverage and crack down on graft, key areas for President Xi Jinping, who is looking to improve access and cut healthcare costs for the country’s population of nearly 1.4 billion.
Since 2009, China has spent 3 trillion yuan (US$481 billion) on healthcare reform, but the system still struggles with a scarcity of doctors, attacks by patients on medical staff and a fragmented drug distribution and retail market.
China’s underfunded network of 13,500 public hospitals relies heavily on drug sales, contributing to inflated prices, kickbacks and tension between patients and doctors.
(Reuters)
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