Australia to boost its engagement in China health and medical sector

By Ji Xiang | May 18, 2015, Monday |

Online Edition

AUSTRALIA is seeking closer business ties with China in areas such as medical devices, aged care, health information technology, clinical trials, hospital management, pharmaceuticals and health foods.

Senior Australian trade officials were in Shanghai last week to hold a series of meetings with Chinese industry executives to promote provisions of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement concluded last November.

“China is Australia’s second-largest market for pharmaceuticals, with exports worth A$381 million (US$305 million) in the most recent fiscal year,” said Michael Clifton, senior trade commissioner at the Australian Trade Commission, known as Austrade. “The benefits of the free trade agreement are being negotiated to permit wholly Australian-owned hospitals and aged care institutions to be established in China.”

Nearly all medical devices manufactured in Australia are exported, Austrade representatives told a bilateral medical forum in Shanghai last week.

Henry Wang, Austrade’s senior investment commissioner in China, said that cooperation in the sector could comprise a considerable portion of bilateral trade because the two countries already have a longstanding trade relationship in mineral resources and property.

Denise Eaton, acting trade manager at Austrade, said the two countries face some very similar issues in healthcare, such as improving care for the aged.

On the other hand, Roby Liu, managing director of China’s ZTEVC Management Co., said Australian companies must prepare themselves for strong domestic competition in the healthcare industry as the Chinese government pushes hospitals to use more domestically made medical devices to dilute reliance on imports.

Imports currently supply about three-quarters of the US$34 billion-a-year Chinese healthcare market,

The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement calls for lower tariffs on some products shipped to China.

Clinton said tariffs on certain pharmaceutical products, including vitamins, will be reduced by 3 percent to 10 percent, and levies on orthopedic devices will drop 4 percent.

Business Finance

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Australia to boost its engagement in China health and medical sector

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