(Photo: Shanghai, China by Thomas Depenbusch)
China and the UK share many goals. These include providing high quality healthcare for all citizens; planning and delivering services for a rapidly growing elderly population; and adapting services to manage the rising burden of non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, coronary and respiratory conditions, cancer and dementia. The changing healthcare needs of our respective populations are placing enormous demands on our health systems and infrastructure.
With its stated aim of providing “safe, effective, convenient and affordable” healthcare to both rural and urban residents by 2020, improving the quality and choice of healthcare services is a priority for the Chinese Government.
Healthcare coverage has expanded over the last decade and the Government share of health spending has increased from 16% in 2001 to 30% in 2013. But spend per head is just $280 – compared to $3,405 in the UK – and McKinsey forecasts China’s health expenditure to reach $1 trillion by 2020.
Many of the areas of focus for the current reforms in China – such as improved service delivery, more effective public health and better hospital management – correspond with areas of expertise within the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) and its commercial healthcare sector.
Working with key partners through a series of events across the country, the China Healthcare & Life Sciences Roadshow 2015 – facilitated by the GREAT Britain Campaign and organised by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), Healthcare UK and the China-Britain Business Council – will highlight to UK organisations the extensive work that has been done to identify and scope the opportunities in the healthcare sector.
UK Companies secured more than £500m of business in China’s Healthcare sector during 2014/15
The UKTI Teams in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing have continued to establish strong relations with healthcare project owners and decision makers across China. Clients are drawn from the public sector, state owned enterprises, and private entrepreneurs. A robust pipeline of £12.5 billion has been identified and the team continue to work to identify specific business opportunities in four key focus areas:
Hospital Solutions – design, operation and services for hospitals
Current plans for the construction of 2,000 county level hospitals and 29,000 township level hospitals.
Digital Health
The Chinese 13th 5-year plan recognises the key role of Digital Health in delivering the national reform agenda across rural and urban populations in a country where technology is playing an increasing role in all aspects of life.
Elderly Care
The number of people aged 65+ in China is predicted to double by 2030 to 300 million.
Education and Training – medical education and hospital administration etc.
Training requirements for an estimated 500,000 doctors, 1 million nurses and 5 million care workers.
The Roadshow events will also include:
- An overview of the main opportunities in the life sciences sector
- Information on the ongoing support available to UK companies to access the market
- A one-to-one meeting programme with sector specialists from China and the UK.
Led by Brian Gallagher, Minister-Counsellor and Campaign Strategy Director for Life Sciences, Health and Social Care for China at UK Trade & Investment China and accompanied by senior members and sector specialists in the healthcare and life sciences team, the Roadshow will provide an excellent opportunity to highlight to a wide range of UK healthcare organisations the current situation in China and will be of particular interest to local NHS Trusts and their partner universities; innovative digital health companies; elderly care home operators and service providers and those UK companies that supply the NHS with products and services.
