A medical worker enters an assisted reproductive lab of a sperm bank in Taiyuan, Shanxi province. (Photo/China Daily)
Signs have brightened that investments in assisted reproductive services by provincial governments and the private sector will likely increase in anticipation of a surge in demand, following the end of the decades-long one-child policy in October 2015.
Ending the one-child policy alone won't help boost population significantly as many reproductive-age couples are beset with infertility, experts said.
It is said women's chances to become pregnant start to decline from age 35. Similarly, a man's biological ability to father a child begins to decline from age 45.
Some 15 percent of China's reproductive-age couples are believed to be infertile. Age of women is a big factor, said Feng Liuxiang, director of the Guangdong Association for Improving Birth Outcomes and Child Development.
"Many women who would like to have a second child are troubled by the infertility problem nowadays," Feng said.
For such people, assisted reproductive technology is key. Around 25 percent of them could have babies through this method. But, the number of institutions that can provide such services is inadequate in China.
This means, existing centers work overtime. "We are always fully booked and plenty of patients across the country come to our hospital for help," said an official from Peking Union Medical College Hospital, well-known as one of the earliest facilities to offer assisted reproductive services in China.
According to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, 356 institutions were qualified to provide assisted reproductive services as at 2012.
But for technological and legal reasons, the government suspended issuing licenses for new centers in early 2013.
The ban may be lifted this year in response to the anticipated surge in demand for such services.
For instance, late last year, the Chongqing Health and Family Planning Commission announced a five-year plan to boost assisted reproductive technology centers in the city.
The city plans to expand the number of such centers from six to nine by 2020.
In May 2015, the National Health Commission released guidelines for local governments to develop assisted reproductive technology.
Establishment of centers should be based on the principle that there should be at least one institution for 3 million residents. Only 20 percent of the planned projects should be approved every year.
Viewed with the end of the one-child policy, some companies sense a business opportunity in assisted reproduction and related services.
For instance, Guangdong Taiantang Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, a listed medicine manufacturer based in Guangdong province and well known for its main product Qulin Wan, announced it will help develop the whole reproductive health industry by buying genetic testing centers and private hospitals this year.
"Including Qilin Wan, we already have six products related to reproductive health covering pre-pregnancy adjustment, tocolysis and healing after delivery," said Ke Shaobin, general manager of Taiantang.
The company is considering launch of its Qilin Wan in the United States market as it has a cooperation agreement with Tianjin Tasly Pharmaceutical Co Ltd to get the necessary certification from the US Food and Drug Administration.
The first reproductive health hospital of Taiantang will open in Shanghai this year. One of its major operations will be in vitro fertilization or IVF, Ke said.
Taiantang online services will launch shortly, and will target the fertility market, and connect doctors and patients, said Tu Weiying, an analyst with Guotai Junan Securities Co.
Taiantang is not the first private sector company to explore the reproductive services market.
As early as the end of 2011, TC Medical Inc, a dental care major based in Zhejiang province, built its reproduction services center in Kunming, Yunnan province, and opened for tests in 2015.
The center has already completed 10 IVF treatments, all between July and October 2015.
TC Medical has cooperation agreements with some research institutions. In 2013, it established two flagship IVF centers with the
United Kingdom-based Bourn Hall Clinic.
In May 2015, it forged an alliance with the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences to work together in the field of reproductive technology.
"TC Medical's assisted reproductive business has made steady progress. The business offers high profit margin and may drive the company's growth," said Liu Shuchang, an analyst with Changjiang Securities Co.
