Australia to boost its engagement in China's health sector

 15-May-15, Shanghai Daily 

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.

Image: The Conversation_Lukas Coch / AAP

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, 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.”

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 market.

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