Chinese tourists undermining China's pharmaceuticals industry

Numerous media reports have focused on the frenzied shopping sprees by Chinese tourists in Japan, buying everything from rice cookers to toilet lids, but a new shopping "craze" could have more serious implications for China. Chinese-produced over-the-counter (OTC) painkillers and cough medicines are increasingly difficult to access and unaffordable, and gaining a widespread reputation for being ineffective. As mistrust grows, many Chinese are looking overseas for their medicines. With Japanese OTC drugs considered highly effective, many Chinese tourists are returning home with bulk supplies to resell on Chinese e-retail sites; the impact of which is starting to be recognised by several domestic pharmaceutical industry leaders.

It's not news that, despite the political tensions between China and Japan, our Eastern neighbor has remained one of the most popular overseas tourism destinations for ordinary Chinese people.

Shanghai citizens account for nearly 40 percent of annual tourism numbers, who appreciate Japan not necessarily for its history, culture or scenery but rather because it is a shopping paradise.

Official figures indicate that Chinese tourists consumed 80 billion yuan ($12.16 billion) in Japan in 2015 alone, with numerous media reports focusing on Chinese tour groups going on frenzied shopping sprees at Tokyo malls just to buy mundane items like rice cookers and (seriously) toilet lids.

But the latest craze among Chinese tourists to Japan is less farcical and could have more serious implications. Japanese over-the-counter (OTC) painkillers and cold remedies are now being bought by Chinese tourists, many who bring them back in bulk to the Chinese mainland, where they are then resold on Chinese E-retail sites.

Word about these highly effective Japanese drugs have spread quicker than a cough in a public kindergarten. The phenomenon was recently summarized as "a humiliation" for China's pharmaceutical companies by a domestic pharma industry representative.

His comment received wide attention in the national media and was heatedly discussed on social media, with netizens divided over whether the Chinese public should stay loyal to their own pharmaceutical industry despite their general lack of trust.

As a reporter who observes and writes on China's health care industry and the dire situation in our overcrowded, understaffed local hospitals, in recent years I have indeed noticed how many once-common OTC Chinese medicines have become increasingly difficult to access.

Although they are still seen on pharmacy shelves, a doctor's prescription or a purchaser's ID card are often required from customers. For instance, any cold remedy containing ephedrine is now restricted from retail unless customers first obtain official authorization for the purchase or bring their ID for registration.

In the meantime, medicines that used to be accessible and affordable are now priced higher than ever yet seem less effective than they once were. Some pharma companies are also placing more emphasis on fancier package while giving less priority to researching and developing new or stronger medicines, because they have no incentive to do so.



Meanwhile at hospitals, doctors are being coerced by their bosses (or bribed by pharma reps) to push unnecessary yet expensive drugs on patients. The environment at local hospitals and pharmacies has been made unfriendly toward patients.

More importantly, very few locally-produced drugs have won a wide-spread reputation as being efficient enough to cure a cold, which requires a lengthy period of time and a certain sum of money to get treated here in the city. As suspicion seethes among the masses, many Chinese have started looking overseas for their medicines, with nearby Japan turning into a virtual pharmacy for Chinese tourists.

The only condolence is that some leaders in the domestic pharmaceutical industry have realized how serious the problem is and have come to understand that it's high time that they must innovate in order to win back the trust and confidence of local consumers.

If Chinese-made drugs can prove their effectiveness, and if patients are given more access to them, I'm sure domestic consumers would begin to display a preference for domestic brands.

Until then, it comes as no surprise that so many Chinese would actually prefer to fly to Japan to purchase their medicine rather than spend just as much time waiting in a local hospital for a likely inferior domestic-made medicine. For Chinese pharmaceutical companies, watching their market disappear to Japan is not just humiliating, it's Code Blue.





The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Global Times.



