Is China's Healthcare Industry Going To Gain From Covid-19 Crisis?

COVID-19 has shaken the world and caused enormous challenges to economies and people’s lives. China being the epicenter of the epidemic has been hit particularly hard. The COVID-19 outbreak has brought more attention to the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. Experts believe that this outbreak will serve as a catalyst to the transformation of the sector in China. How would this public health crisis change China’s healthcare industry, which was projected to be worth $2.4 trillion by 2030? Let’s find out.

- Ayesha Siddiqui

The first case of COVID-19 in China was reported in December 2019. Since then, the country has reported 83,912 cases, and 4,637 deaths, according to the data from US based John Hopkins Institute. The outbreak has brought terrible public health crisis and significant economic costs. According to the official data released, China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell 6.8 per cent in January- March year-on-year, a slightly larger decline than the 6.5 per cent forecast by analysts and reversing a 6 per cent expansion in the fourth quarter of 2019. It was the first contraction in the world’s second-largest economy since 1992. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), China is expected to grow by 1.2 per cent this year. In January 2020, the firm had predicted a 6 per cent growth. However, all is not lost, the country is expected to see a rebound in activity later this year, with growth bouncing back to 9.2 per cent next year, the IMF predicts. This all could have a ripple effect in the healthcare sector of the country.

Post COVID-19 Chinese Healthcare

Healthcare sector ranks eighth in China, and the epidemic has shed light on the areas which need to be improved. There’s no doubt this will have a profound impact on the several subsectors related to the industry.

Healthcare reform will speed up in the coming months, especially strengthening of the primary care system and integration with public health crisis management system. There will be further improvements on the sustainability and affordability of the social medical insurance funds.