OTC Drug Market Opportunities In China

With a population of 1.2 billion people, many of whom have amassed large savings and who enjoy a relatively high proportion of disposable income, China offers a major opportunity for marketers of consumer products. This opportunity is being opened up by a government intent on establishing a "socialist-capitalist" economy, which has actively encouraged the formation of hundreds of joint ventures between western and Chinese pharmaceutical companies, comments Nicholas Hall & Co, discussing its new report entitled China: OTC Entry Strategies to 2000.

Some of these companies, it says, have already introduced consumer brands known in developed markets, and these products are being advertised alongside other pharmaceuticals on Chinese national and regional television, as well as on satellite and cable stations. With TV audience penetration reaching 99% in some cities, relatively in-expensive advertising campaigns have already been seen by huge audiences and are promoting rapid growth rates for some brands.

Based on the effects of high-profile advertising and promotion, as well as a government commitment to the expansion of the market, sales of western-style pharmaceuticals reached around $2.3 billion in 1993, having grown ahead of inflation for many years.