In March 2021, the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) was published, putting forward a detailed plan for the development of the healthcare and life sciences industries in China. The plan covers a range of areas, including overall planning and reimbursement for medical insurance, the multi-tiered healthcare system, social medical services, remote medical treatment, traditional Chinese medicine, and chronic disease management, providing a wide variety of development prospects for these industries.
This report will provide an overview of the healthcare sector in China. The first chapter focuses on the key factors and drivers that are shaping the sector in China, especially the increasingly supporting role of the Chinese government in issuing key development plans and regulations, as well as the rapidly ageing Chinese population. The second chapter provides a deeper analysis of China’s healthcare providers, in particular the number of public vs private healthcare institutions, services, beds and personnel. The third chapter is the core section of the report: it provides up-to-date information on the market, regulations, key players and market entry requirements for three subsectors: (i) pharmaceuticals; (ii) medical devices; and (iii) healthcare services. The last chapter of the report summarises the main opportunities, challenges and key success factors that European SMEs should bear in mind when exploring the highly-competitive and difficult Chinese healthcare market.
NOTE: This EU SME Centre report is an update of a previous report produced in 2017 – “Healthcare in China”, accessible at: https://www.eusmecentre.org.cn/report/healthcare-market-china
Disclaimer: This report was published during the EU SME Centre in China Phase II (2014-2020), which was funded by the European Union (ICI+/2014/346-276).
The report was drafted in collaboration with external creators, who worked under service agreements with the Consortium running the EU SME Centre Phase II. The copyrights and intellectual property of this publication belong to the Consortium partner China-Britain Business Council. The latter was authorised by and acted on behalf of the Consortium running EU SME Centre in China Phase II. The China-Britain Business Council, which is currently part of the Consortium running the EU SME Centre in China Phase III, has granted the rights of use of this report to the current Consortium. The report is therefore re-published and made available during the EU SME Centre Phase III.
