The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with Smart Hub Flemish Brabant and Flanders Investment & Trade, organized the Masterclass: “Understanding China's Healthcare sector”. The Chinese healthcare market is experiencing an unprecedented growth that is presenting burgeoning opportunities for Flemish companies. China is now the second largest market in the world for medical devices and pharmaceuticals. China’s healthcare service market is also quickly becoming one of the largest in the world.
Fourth session on May 17, 2022: “Funding and Investing”
Ms Gwenn Sonck introduced the topic of the webinar – Funding and Investing. In this webinar you will learn about the range of different investment funds and subsidies, and how they can support you in entering the Chinese market. This will be followed by a practical case.
Mr Koen Van Loo, CEO of the Federal Participation and Investment Corporation talked about three investment vehicles to co-invest in China: the China Belgium Direct Equity Investment Fund (CBDEIF), and two other vehicles that can co-finance a Belgian company that is willing to develop in China. SFPI is the sovereign wealth fund of Belgium, which mainly invests in Belgium, but also has some tools to invest in China. The CBDEIF is targeting ticket sizes of about €3 to €8 million. The Datang-SFPIM Venture Capital Fund is aiming at greenfield and early stage companies where the ticket size is between €500,000 and €3 million. Finally, there is also SFPIM International.
Mr Steven Levecke, Investment Director at Capricorn Partners, introduced the Capricorn Fusion China Fund, one of the funds managed by Capricorn Partners, an independent manager of venture capital and equity funds based in Leuven, managing about €600 million. The Capricorn Fusion China fund is a two-way fund that can invest in European companies that would like to expand in the Chinese or Asian market, but is also open to invest in Asian or Chinese companies that come to Europe and need a local partner.
Ms Caroline Steensels, Teamleader Financial Support at Flanders Investment and Trade, introduced FIT and the financial instruments it is offering to Flemish SMEs, for example to participate in trade fairs or organize prospection trips.
Mr Bertrand Grimmonpré, CFO at Miracor Medical, introduced his company that caters to significant unmet medical needs and for which China is a very important market. He explained how his company made financing deals with Chinese VCs.
Fifth session on May 18, 2022: “Production, Export & Sales in China”
Ms Gwenn Sonck introduced the four speakers of this webinar.
Mr Peter Tanghe, Science & Technology Counselor, Flanders Investment & Trade, Guangzhou, gave a presentation on “China: a market for Flanders Health Tech?”. Chinese life sciences companies are ready to cooperate with our companies. The Chinese government has prioritized the healthcare market. China also released a five year plan to develop the bio-economy.
Mr Felix Zhang, General Manager, Televic Asia, introduced his company, which is active in conferencing technology, critical care communication and rail passenger information. It has set up companies in Changzhou and Shanghai. It offers nurse call systems, mainly to private and foreign-invested hospitals.
Mr Herman Raats, Founder & CEO, Shanghai Yumou Industrial Development Company, introduced the company, which is active in the production and sales of medical devices. He explained the several steps required to set up a company in China. The key success factors are persistence and keeping good relations with the local administration.
Mr Su Zeng, Representative, Flanders Brabant Province and POM Antwerp in China, talked about opportunities in Chengdu and Western China. He introduced the Chengdu Tianfu Biotown (TFBT), where western companies could find potential partners. The only National Precise Medical Innovation Center in China was set up in Chengdu. There is financial support to attract Western companies. Mr Su also presented a few case studies.
Companies interested to obtain the full report and recordings can send an e-mail to: info@flanders-china.be
