Leslie Gordon, Senior Editor

The recent China Medical Equipment Fair (CMEF) held in Shenzhen brought home the idea that China is no longer just a place for low-cost manufacturing. The country also has a vast and growing potential consumer base. Shenzhen, for instance, looks a lot like southern Florida with palm trees, wide streets, glittering skyscrapers, and lots of traffic, mostly trucks and new cars. All this indicates growing wealth.

Of course, participating in this growth will take more than just setting up shop. The U.S. Embassy, for one, wants to help. “We encourage U.S. firms to participate in CMEF because it helps them find good Chinese manufacturing contacts and convince Chinese consumers to buy U.S. products,” says Richard Craig of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. “In fact, U.S. companies with distributors or manufacturers in China have a much better chance of selling there. Unfortunately, a roadblock to marketing products in China is the stringent product-registration process, which usually takes about a year or more, depending on the type of product. To help American companies better understand the process and try to alleviate difficulties, we encourage firms to contact us directly at the Embassy. We also host a helpful Web site at www.export.gov.”

Other countries represented at the show (more than 2,000 exhibitor from over 50 countries) have established strategies for entering the Chinese market. For instance, Robert Kipps of U.K. Trade and Investment in London points out there are 50 private hospitals in Shenzhen alone. “They result from the city's growing class of wealthy consumers, who demand the best in health care. In addition to attending CMEF, take a look at espicon.com. It's a good place to do business research on China.”

One Canadian firm tracks diseases to find niche Asian-Pacific markets. “We track what disease is becoming prevalent and where,” says Gary Hodgins, CEO of Pharmax Ltd. in Toronto and spokesperson for Canada's Trillium Medical Technology Association, a group that includes SMEs to large distributors. “For example, Japan now has a lot of problems with neurological disorders, so devices for analyzing the nervous system are needed there. Also, Muslim populations in the Middle East have an aversion to alcohol. So we came up with a non-alcohol-based hand cleaner for health personnel in those countries. And heart disease is rapidly growing in India. We help fill the demand for ablation catheters and instruments for open-heart surgery.” Similar research could be done for the Chinese population.

Other interesting strategies for entering the Chinese market include one from E.H. Choi with the Korea Medical Devices Industrial Cooperative Association. He says the Korean medical market is so small, firms there are forced to look globally. So Korean companies (and small firms from other countries as well) band together under a national pavilion for an affordable way to exhibit at the show. Choi says Korea mostly targets China, Germany, and S. Asian countries, providing devices such as endoscopes and plasma-sterilization equipment.

Many U.S. companies still believe there are good reasons for not doing business in China. Overcoming the difficulties of penetrating the Chinese medical market call for dedication and long-term planning. But, take your heads out of the sand. China is a global player growing by leaps and bounds. Think of its 1.3 billion people as potential customers.