Roundup: Italian health companies eye potential in Chinese market

Italian health companies eye development in the Chinese market as China and Italy have defined the priority areas of bilateral cooperation in the health sector for the years 2016-2018.

Last week's visit of Italian Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin to Beijing was an occasion for the two countries to agree to work more closely together in the health sector.

Lorenzin on Thursday had a series of high-level meetings with the Chinese authorities on cooperation in healthcare reforms, preventive medicine, medical services for the elderly, rehabilitation, cancer therapy, traditional Chinese medicine, joint research and training of medical staff.

At the center of bilateral dialogue there was how to organize and provide accessible, equal, effective and sustainable health services to adapt to innovations arising from research and development, sources of the Italian embassy in Beijing explained to Xinhua.

During the Italian minister's visit, several documents were signed between institutions and companies from the two countries and a seminar attended by over 100 Italian and Chinese operators was held in the Chinese capital.

Collaboration in the health sector "aims to combine the best elements of our respective traditions, in medical and health behaviors, with research and innovation," Lorenzin highlighted in her address to the seminar.

In particular, Italy's medical device companies are looking at development potential in China's market, one of the markets where Italy's exports of medical devices have increased the most, namely by 10.4 percent in 2013 and by 24.1 percent in 2014, with an export value of 310 million euros (around 430 million U.S. dollars), the embassy sources explained to Xinhua.

Among the companies already present in China there is DiaSorin, a biotech group specialized in in-vitro diagnostics based in northern Italy.

Also last week, DiaSorin celebrated 10 years of successful entry in the Chinese market with a ceremony held in Turin, capital city of Piedmont region in northern Italy, attended by nearly 70 Chinese employees of DiaSorin.

"We have a strategy aimed at different market segments in China, including important partnerships," Fabio Piazzalunga, VP Corporate Sales and Marketing at DiaSorin, told Xinhua on the sidelines of the ceremony.

Founded in 1968 and listed in Milan, DiaSorin set up operations in China in 2006. Thanks to its leading role as supplier of a battery of tests for prenatal screening and a joint venture with a local partner, the group became a point of reference for the Chinese diagnostic market.

Last year, DiaSorin signed an agreement with Beckman Coulter Diagnostics, a global leader in clinical diagnostics, to market DiaSorin's tests for Hepatitis B and C and HIV in China. "And we are in contact with various Chinese companies to evaluate new opportunities," Piazzalunga told Xinhua.

DiaSorin CEO Carlo Rosa underlined at the ceremony that over the next five years Chinese policymakers have vowed to deepen reform of the health system and improve its healthcare system covering both the urban and rural areas, as well as the management system for hospitals.

China's health reform, he said, highlights the huge potential of Italian collaboration with thousands of hospitals, health facilities, universities and research centers across the Asian country. Endit