Envoy: Vast potential for US-China medical cooperation

There is immense potential to be tapped in the medicine and services sector in China, as the country's population ages and its middle class expands, a top Chinese envoy in Washington said.

"China-US medical cooperation enjoys vast potential," Ambassador Xie Feng told representatives of the Advanced Medical Technology Association on Wednesday.

The country's steady and fast surge in the demand for high-quality medicine and services will open up an unprecedented market space for the medical technology sector, Xie said at a reception held by the association.

The association is the largest medical technology association in the US, representing 80 percent of American medical device and diagnostic companies.

According to a report by the international consultancy Roland Berger, China's medical device market is projected to exceed $320 billion by 2030, making China potentially the largest medical device market globally.

The country is putting people's health front and center in its modernization drive, and is taking "solid steps" to advance the Healthy China Initiative, according to the envoy.

Demographically, about 260 million of China's population is over 60 years old, and the number will exceed 300 million by 2035. Also, China's middle-income population will cross 800 million in the coming 15 years.

Xie said opening-up is China's fundamental national policy, and as a major trading partner of more than 140 countries and regions and the primary export market of over 50, China is deeply integrated into international industrial and supply chains.

"Chinese modernization is only possible with continued opening-up. China simply has no reason to close its door, even when some other countries are trying to close their doors on China," he said.

China will continue to pursue high-standard opening-up, further expand market access, better protect the rights and interests of foreign investors, and foster a market-oriented, law-based business environment in keeping with international standards, he added.

In his speech, Xie urged the business community to be "responsible stakeholders" in the China-US relationship, and "take real actions" to uphold common interests, champion market economy and free trade, and help to bring China-US relations back to the right track.