Foreign Investment Law highly anticipated in healthcare sector

The international business community is looking forward to the implementation of China's Foreign Investment Law, United Family Healthcare CEO Roberta Lipson said on the sidelines of the China Development Forum in Beijing on March 23.

"We're looking forward to the special implementing regulations as it has to do with our industry, because there's always special management of healthcare investment," Lipson said.

Lipson, who established China's first foreign-owned hospital in 1997 and experienced the complicated process to set up a company in China as a foreigner, is very excited to see healthcare deleted from the proposed negative list.

"We'll have national treatment in all aspects, so that will take away a lot of the restrictions," Lipson said.

The newly adopted Foreign Investment encourages foreign business people including Lipson to invest more in the Chinese market. This carries great potential and is particularly relevant in the healthcare industry as China's population ages.

"That's why healthcare is so important. As China ages, the demands for healthcare will continue to increase. And the system really needs to be supplemented with more private investment in order to handle the heavy load — not only in acute healthcare, but also senior living, rehabilitation medicine and hospitals," Lipson said.

With confidence in China's commitment to protect foreign companies' rights, Lipson will continue to bring the latest technology and healthcare to the country, because it is so important to have continuity in healthcare, she said.

"We've just opened a new hospital in Guangzhou. We also have two new investments, one in Hangzhou, one in Shenzhen that we'll be working on this year and one new hospital in Beijing," Lipson said.

United Family Healthcare's expansion and Lipson's continued investment in the Chinese market is based on her optimistic outlook on China's economic development, as healthcare is a long-term cause.

"I think (the Chinese economy) will continue to develop, hopefully strongly, and I'm hoping all the tensions between the US and China will be resolved, and then both economies will develop more," Lipson said.

The Foreign Investment Law was adopted at the closing meeting of the second session of the 13th National People's Congress on March 15, and aims to improve transparency of foreign investment policies and ensure foreign-invested enterprises participate in market competition on an equal basis.

The law will take effect on Jan 1, 2020 and then China will manage foreign investment according to a system of pre-establishment national treatment plus a negative list.