The market for high quality, patient-oriented healthcare services is small, but growing steadily. Most Chinese, as many as 85%, lack health insurance and only 1-2% of the population can afford top-end Western medical care. The ongoing reforms are not designed to expand the number of those insured, but rather to replace government funding with enterprise/employee funding. In the past, all government employees and workers at state-owned enterprises enjoyed virtually free medical care for themselves and their dependents. A new urban medical insurance system was introduced in 2000, with the goal of offering basic health care to urban workers. Currently, there are many successful foreign and joint venture healthcare service providers already in China. Their experiences point to growing opportunities for foreign companies looking to invest in this segment of the market.
