28-Jul-16 With hopes of breaking into the Japanese medical industry one day, trading house Mitsui will deepen its hospital management experience by investing USD101 mn in a 16% stake in Columbia Asia, the largest hospital operator in Asia serving middle-class patients. Columbia Asia specializes in outpatient and simple treatments, and owns 28 medical facilities in four countries. [image: W3LiveNews]

10-Jul-16 In a medical power shift in Asia, China is catching up fast with Korea and even Japan. Although it is still unclear how much money China spends on medical R&D, the country now makes up 20% of the world's total R&D expenditures, second only after the US (27%), according to the 2016 Science & Engineering Indicators report. [image: Korea Times / Jung Min-ho]

08-Jun-16 A new global survey of patients and doctors by Philips shows that emerging economies are poised to adopt new technology, led by UAE and China. Australia comes in 4th and the US 6th. At the bottom of the report is Japan, where strict regulation and a lack of oversight have made the healthcare system less efficient. [image: UIG / Getty Images]

11-May-16 Japan is home to four of the world’s top 10 innovative medical device companies, including the world leader Olympus, according to the 2016 State of Innovation Report. China, Korea, Europe and the US are also listed in the global top 10. The medical devices sector clocked 27% growth in year-on-year patent volume in 2015, followed by pharmaceuticals at 4%. [image: Mestec]

26-Apr-16 The Japanese government will work with medical device maker Nihon Trim to set up a chain of hospitals in China, to promote medical exports while helping to alleviate the shortage of facilities there for treating lifestyle diseases. Mitsubishi Corp and other major companies are considering contributing through such steps as developing meals for diets designed to prevent diabetes. [image: Reuters]