In recent days, the State Council has re-confirmed its focus on deepening medical and health system reform in 2016. As it accelerates and deepens medical reform, it will also implement a series of policies that will further shake up the healthcare industry and open the starting gate for a new batch of investment. On 20 April, Sanpower Group further optimised the group’s position in support of its “Broad Health” initiative, with subsidiary Sanpower International Healthcare Management Co., Ltd. jointly establishing Sanpower Bennus Heath Industry Fund with Shanghai Bennus Investment Management Co., Ltd. so as to seize the opportunities that medical reform affords and create value from the focus on “Healthy China”. Yuan Yafei, Chairman of Sanpower Group, attended and witnessed the signing ceremony.

Signing ceremony with company heads in Nanjing

According to a related head in Sanpower Group, Sanpower Bennus Heath Industry Fund will be backed with RMB 10 billion, with the money raised in the first phase set at RMB three billion. The investment focus of this industry fund are health sectors that the government has approved for investment, including medical services, medical products, healthcare products, nutritional food, medical equipment, healthcare apparatus, leisure and fitness, health management and health consultations. Meanwhile, the key investment areas are first and second tier Chinese cities as well as regions with particular advantages in terms of resources.

In recent years, Sanpower Group has made a number of major moves in the area of “Broad Health”. The group has participated in the restructuring of Xuzhou Third People’s Hospital and, leveraging the technical strengths, of Jiangsu Province Hospital to jointly establish Xuzhou North District Joint-stock Hospital with the aforementioned hospital. Nanjing Cenbest announced its acquisition of CO Group, the largest umbilical cord blood storage company in China, and Shandong cord blood bank, further expanding into the field of biotherapeutics. The group has also acquired Natali, Israel’s largest home-based senior care company, and A.S. Nursing Company, a professional housekeeping company, which is introducing advanced business models and management experience to China and improving competitiveness in senior care. At present, Sanpower has established a “Broad Health” industry position combining senior care, biotherapeutics, and hospital management under the “Broad Health” banner. The foundation of Sanpower Bennus Heath Industry Fund is another significant step towards achieving Sanpower’s vision of “Broad Health”.

At the beginning of April, Prime Minister Li Keqiang re-confirmed the focus on deepening medical and health system reform in 2016 at the State Council Executive Meeting. This year, public hospital reform will be accelerated and triage-based medical treatment processing will be implemented. It is widely believed in the industry that the implementation of these policies will provide opportunities for private medical care, and those sectors that are in line with the direction of medical reform policy such as high-end medical senior care and precise medical treatment will see great future growth potential. At present, much capital is being allocated to a number of structures such as M&A funds, equity investment funds and industry investment funds in order to seek opportunities in the health industry, but thanks to Sanpower’s extensive resources in the health industry and Shanghai Bennus’s professional investment experience, the Sanpower Bennus Heath Industry Fund has a ready-made competitive edge.

It is reported that the first investment project of Sanpower Bennus Heath Industry Fund has been decided and it is a high-end medical service project in line with the focus of the government’s medical reforms. Days ago, Sanpower International Health care reached a cooperation agreement with Jiangsu Province Hospital and Shanghai Bennus Health Management and Consulting Co., Ltd. The two parties will jointly build an industry cluster centre covering accurate disease diagnosis and treatment, chronic disease rehabilitation and prevention, senior care management and life science research. The centre’s first phase plan is to build a diagnosis and treatment centre with cancer treatment, maternity nursing, assisted reproduction, paediatrics, ophthalmology and plastic surgery. Upon completion of that phrase, it can then develop into a high-end medical service centre combining medical treatment, education and scientific research. This international medical centre is the first investment project for the fund.

"As ‘Healthy China’ turns into a national development strategy, the wider health industry is also becoming an emerging industry with great market potential. This health industry fund has been established to seize the golden investment opportunities created by China’s health industry development, make full use of management experience from a professional investment group and risk control system, further strengthen the investment ability of Sanpower in the field of “Broad Health”, and create synergy with the development of already-established healthcare and health and senior-care services to expand Sanpower’s industrial ecosystem,” a Sanpower Group related head noted.