Podcast Sponsor: Biotix, Inc. - Free Samples
Guests:
Guo-Liang Yu, Ph D, CEO, Epitomics, Bio and Contact Info
Listen (1:54) Why expand into China
Listen (6:15) Bio most popular degree
Listen (2:39) Biggest challenges
Listen (4:41) Biotech in China divides into three periods
Listen (2:58) Is innovation happening?
David Wilson, Senior VP, Advanced Biologix, Bio and Contact Info
Listen (7:29) China Medical City
Listen (2:08) Positives and Negatives
Listen (9:12) China communist, but capitalist
Listen (6:52) Advice to those doing business in China
Our program today is the first in an ongoing series about the incredible growth of biotech in China. According to Fareed Zacharia of Newsweek, China is the big story of the last decade. Their economy has grown around 10 percent a year. Their GDP last year was $4.8 Trillion making China the second-largest economy in the world today. “China cannot develop without developing science and technology,” said Premier Wen Jiabao in late May. “Our future relies on the future of science and technology.”
And biotech is a big part of that future. The government is investing billions in a bio“megaproject," and has plans to expand basic health care coverage to the entire population by 2020. As the middle class grows, so does the demand for pharmaceutical drugs. It’s said that China will be the third largest drug market by 2013.
There’s also been a major push by the government this last year for innovation. To help in this area, there are government schemes to lure back Chinese scientists working overseas. These returning ex-pats, or sea turtles as they’re known, are expected to bring innovation to Chinese biotech and move it beyond just a cheap place to manufacture.
See a recent article by David Ewing Duncan, China: The next biotech superpower?
