China set to become the world's second-largest drug market by 2020

Research published by the Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice for Q4 2015 suggests that China’s online healthcare market has grown from approximately ¥2.7bn in 2011 to ¥20.2bn in 2015. This growth is reportedly being driven by a steady increase in internet penetration rate (50.3%), maturation of internet ecosystems and related technologies such as big data analysis, increasing Chinese incomes, and changing lifestyles and patterns of consumption focused more on health and fitness. With China poised to become the world’s second-largest drug market by 2020, the introduction of favourable healthcare regulatory policies, and internet usage increasing beyond 688 million people, recent investment in mobile online healthcare platforms by companies such as Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu is set to inspire new areas of opportunity for healthcare start-ups during 2016.

China PC Online Health & Fitness Industry Matrix - Q4 2015

China's PC online healthcare market has grown from approximately RMB 2.7 bln in 2011 to RMB 20.2 bln in 2015. Driving the market is a steady increase in the internet penetration rate (50.3% as of the end of 2015), maturation of internet ecosystems and related technologies, such as big data analysis, rising average incomes and changing lifestyles, with Chinese consumers now attaching increasing importance to health and fitness. China's spending on pharmaceuticals, for example, was forecast to exceed USD 107 bln in 2015, up from USD 26 bln in 2007, and China is poised to become the world's second-largest drug market, after the U.S., by 2020, according to research published in 2014 in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice.

With the number of internet users in China exceeding 688 mln by the end of 2015, traditional industries like healthcare have increasingly embraced the internet as a means of improving efficiency, cutting costs, and providing more targeted, customized services. China’s healthcare industry regulators have also endorsed the development of online healthcare, with the China Food & Drug Administration announcing earlier this year that it is working to finalize a new policy allowing online sales of prescription drugs. In addition, China's top policy makers, as part of the country's "Internet Plus" economic development plan announced in March 2015, have made the integration of traditional healthcare systems with advanced internet technologies a key focus.

As technological, regulatory, economic, and social factors have aligned over the past several years to create attractive opportunities in the development of online healthcare and fitness platforms, investment in the sector by venture capital firms, major internet companies, and traditional healthcare and insurance providers has ramped quickly. Many startups in the field have already achieved Series C funding or better, and leading internet and mobile services firms like Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent have been active both in launching online healthcare platforms of their own and investing in online healthcare and fitness startups.

To help investors and health industry enterprises identify opportunities among China's quickly growing number of online health and fitness platform operators, Marbridge has researched and formulated the China PC Online Health and Fitness Industry Matrix. The Q4 2015 edition of the Matrix provides details on approximately 98 leading PC online health and fitness service providers and over 109 PC online health and fitness platforms in Excel (read-only) format: