Chinese people are getting fat

Credit: China Daily

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA — Forgive the less than flattering headline but medical device entrepreneurs and investors would be foolish not to recognize such a primo opportunity.

During a presentation by Hui Hu, president of HGInnovation Investment Holdings at the Minneapolis Community & Technology College Wednesday, an audience member asked Hui about China’s shifting dietary habits.

“We used to be vegetarian,” said Hui. “Now we eat meat. We used to ride bicycles. Now we’re driving cars.”

As it turns out, America is sending more than treasury notes and Hollywood action movies across the Pacific. China’s growing wealth means its people are buying more Western foods and cars. And that means the country’s heart disease and obesity rates are rising, something Minnesota’s cardiovascular-heavy medical device industry should note, he said.

Makes you proud to be an American. Sniff.

Hui, a successful entrepreneur and investor who sold a Chinese medical imaging start-up to Vital Images Inc. of Minnetonka, offered some other interesting insights into China’s medical device market.

GO WEST, GO CHEAP Fearing social unrest, China has made it a top priority to bring jobs, infrastructure and social services to poor rural regions outside the country’s rich eastern coast. A big chunk of China’s $586 billion stimulus package last year will go to building hospitals and providing better health care to rural regions. Unlike the United States, which values performance, the Chinese tend to emphasize cost, Hui said. So any medical device firm that can deliver less expensive technologies to rural areas could do very well, he said.