The blue-chip firm wants to tap into the lucrative market for traditional cures
Hutchison Whampoa has formed a $1.86 billion joint venture with the mainland's oldest Chinese-medicine firm, China Beijing Tongrentang (Group), to develop traditional cures.
The conglomerate yesterday set up a 49-49 joint venture, Beijing Tongrentang Hutchison Pharmaceutical Investment, with the mainland firm. The remaining 2 per cent will be taken up by a third party nominated by Tongrentang.
The joint venture, which follows a similar research and development agreement reached between the two firms in 2000, will allow Hutchison to tap the lucrative yet competitive Chinese-medicine market and leverage its global distribution network.
Through its Watsons outlets in Asia and Superdrug shops in Europe, Hutchison owns 3,200 health and beauty stores. It also runs a traditional Chinese-medicine shop, Zen, in London.
With the new joint venture, Hutchison and Tongrentang hope to speed up their investment in traditional Chinese medicine and health-related projects and enterprises.
'We hope that China's pharmaceutical business will expand further, with the expertise and experience of Tongrentang on the one hand and Hutchison Whampoa's global network on the other,' Hutchison Whampoa (China) managing director Simon To said.
