Foreign firms see opportunity in healthcare

▶ Advanced medical products sell for billions of dollars at CIIE

Huge market potentials of China’s healthcare sector were discovered at the just-concluded first China International Import Expo (CIIE), Yacov Geva, president and CEO of Israeli G. Medical Innovations Ltd, told Xinhua in an interview.

This is one of the best exhibitions in the world and actually the biggest one with huge market opportunities and cooperation potential, said Geva, after returning home from the six-day CIIE that ended in Shanghai on Saturday.

Geva’s company is one of thousands of exhibitors from across the world which participated in the event. His company, focusing on developing and marketing clinical and consumer mobile health monitoring solutions, presented two products at the CIIE.

One is the G. Medical Patch, a modular, easy-to-use clinicalgrade solution for monitoring patients throughout the health care life cycle; and the other is the individual Prizma, which turns an individual’s smartphone into a personalized mobile medical monitor with all of the personal vital signs and biometric parameters.

Lots of Chinese companies showed interest in his products and wanted to do business with his company, said Geva.

Deals for intended one-year purchases of goods and services worth a total of $57.83 billion were reached at the expo, including $5.76 billion of medical equipment and healthcare products.

“The purpose of attending the exhibition is to expose yourself to the world and many companies, distributors, potential customers, potential investors, potential strategic partners who are coming to look for interesting products and interesting companies,” said Geva.

Geva said China is the biggest market in the world and the Chinese healthcare market is also huge because China has a huge aging population and Chinese people want to have a better healthcare system.

“China today is not only the biggest manufacturer in the world but also the biggest consumer in the world. This is why it’s so important for us and other companies to be in China. If they want to do business in China they have to be in China,” said Geva.

G. Medical Innovations has built a joint venture and its products will soon be assembled in Guangzhou, the capital city of South China’s Guangdong Province.

The company’s products are mainly marketed in Europe and the US, but it is now applying for a license from the China Food and Drug Administration to market them in China. The license is expected to be obtained in 4 to 6 months from now.