Economic boom
China has emerged from the most recent financial and economic crisis in an even stronger position. Economists agree that within just a few years, China will surpass the United States, as it has already done with Japan, to become the world’s leading economic power. The government’s rapidly implemented stimulus package consists primarily of infrastructure improvements, and is having a positive impact on the construction industry and other sectors. China currently boasts 193 cities with more than one million inhabitants, as well as half of all global construction activities.
Bayer aims to expand its capacities in China
The country’s economic boom is raising the quality of life – yet not as quickly and equitably as many people would like. The government is focusing all the more closely on maintaining stability and ensuring that citizens benefit from as much of the new affluence as possible. High on the list of priorities are health care and nutrition. It is planned for each Chinese citizen to have access to affordable basic medical care by 2020. Between 2009 and 2011 alone, this area will be the focus of nearly €10 billion in investment. One of numerous measures being undertaken within this timeframe is the planned doubling of the number of hospitals in the country to 40,000. When it comes to important targets, ‘planned’ in China means it’s as good as a done deal.
Harvest shortfalls led to periods of famine among broad sections of the Chinese population until the 1960s. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, China today feeds more than one fifth of the world’s population with only seven percent of the global planting area. Additional challenges are posed by the shifting of the population base from rural areas to cities. Quality expectations are rising, eating habits are changing and meat consumption is increasing. Here, too, the government is introducing reforms and striving for supply security, quality and efficiency. The result is that agriculture is becoming a science.
The size of the country, which is comparable to that of the United States or Canada, requires particular efforts in the area of mobility. According to government statistics, eight new civilian airports opened in 2010 alone, in addition to the 166 existing ones. By the end of 2020 the government is aiming for a total of 244 airports to be in operation. China already has the most extensive high-speed rail network in the world, at 8,300 kilometers – but this is nowhere near enough. A further 17,000 kilometers are currently under construction, with nearly 5,000 expected to be completed this year.
The figures for China’s auto industry are also impressive. While nearly three million new cars were registered in Germany in 2010, some 18 million vehicles were sold in China according to the manufacturers’ association – 32 percent more than in the previous year. China now has the world’s biggest automotive market – yet at 50 cars per 1,000 citizens, it is still at the level of the United States in 1917.
China’s breathtaking economic development is being driven by three core needs: universal health care coverage, safe and healthy food for all and technological solutions for a smoothly functioning infrastructure. “Our core competencies are practically tailor-made for China’s needs,” says Management Board member Plischke. So it is no wonder that Bayer has a lot to offer China. The company has been represented in China for more than 125 years, and is therefore known and respected among customers as a dependable partner. In addition to Bayer’s reliability, it is above all the company’s innovative capability that makes Bayer such a valuable partner. This applies particularly to the Bayer HealthCare subgroup, whose portfolio ranges from antibiotics such as Ciprobay and Avalox through cardiovascular drugs like Adalat and the market-leading diabetes medicine Glucobay to Aspirin. Sales of the HealthCare subgroup now lie just below the magic €1 billion threshold, compared with €150 million in 2005.