The abolition of the one-child policy could let us think that the reproduction rate would explode. However, one may be surprised by the issue of fertility in China. Many reasons are at the source of this issue. Beyond them, we can cite the smoke, owner sperm counts, later pregnancies and other health barriers that are making it harder for many women to get pregnant. Indeed, nicotine really damages his fertility. Many Chinese couples have to be helped by assisted reproductive health in order to have a child. This market represents 15 billion.
Sides Effects of One Child Policy
Having a child in China is very important. You often have the pressure of the family once you get married. Consequently, they are ready to pay a lot of money to go on fertility therapies. For many years, couples in China were allowed to have only one child. But in order to make stronger the working force the government decided to end this policy. Indeed, face to the increasing demands and the number of elderly people the government had to change the policy. In fact, this policy allowed couples in the countryside to have a second child if the first one was a girl. There were also exceptions for some ethnic minorities. The one-child policy also led to a disproportion between girls and boys because female fetuses were selectively aborted. There are also women who decided to abandon their second child or give them for adoption. Consequently, many families were devastated.
Fertility Market Booming
The market of IVF in 2016 was worth 670 $ million and in 2022 it is expected to reach 1.5 billion $ considering the fact that 65 percent of infertile couples choose to have a treatment in order to have a child. This is a huge percentage because the price of the treatment on average is 40 000 yuan. Sperm counts which refer to the number of sperm per milliliter decreased significantly. The following figure was found by Yanzhong Huang, a senior. Assisted reproduction knows a really fast growth. It became something common to use this method to have children. Chinese people feel comfortable with the fact that they need some help. Having a second child is strongly encouraged by the family now that it is allowed. Many Chinese couples go abroad. Medical tourism was multiplied by 5 since 2015. Chinese couples go to the USA, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, German, Singapore, and Switzerland. They are looking for IVF but also egg freezing because it is forbidden in Chine for non-married women.
Concerning legislation, it’s difficult to get licenses. Indeed, the government asks for the full clinic, a certain number of staff, and the capacity to propose intrauterine insemination which aims at putting sperm directly into the uterus.
New Lifestyle
Chinese people live in a stressful environment that goes with economic development. This is coupled with pollution smoking and alcohol. Furthermore, we have more and more late marriages because of the pressure of society that requires very good economic conditions before having a baby. Women have children later because they favor their careers in order to fulfill their professional ambition. Many Chinese people choose to go abroad, to Australia or Singapore for example because they can select the method they want to use and have access to the best technologies and some opportunities like the possibility to choose their gender which is forbidden in China. With fertility treatment, you have the possibility to create multiple births or select the sex of children. However, multiplied births are not encouraged because it is risky for the mother at the child. Concerning gender selection, is usually used to prevent sex-linked genetic disorders.
How to take advantage of these opportunities?
The goal here is not just to persuade mature women who failed at getting pregnant, but it is more about raising awareness of 20s-year-old women that they should worry about their fertility. Consequently, they should put money into doing tests and ask for services like egg freezing in order to counter the forthcoming potential fertility issue.
There is a lot of opportunities for all industries around the baby market such as a babycare, Medical Tourism, food supplement, health treatment, baby equipment…and so on.
Do you want to approach a Mother Community?
1- You have to create a Chinese website
Chinese customers are very protective, they want the best for their babies so they are ready to spend a lot of money on different products or electronic equipment that can improve their baby lifestyle. so if you want to reach this class of customers you have to be visible online through a Chinese Website, which is the first portal for connecting those customers.
2- You should be present on Chinese forums
Chinese customers always need a confirmation or recommendation about a product or service before using or buying this product. you need to be on the Chinese forums and have a good reputation. there is a lot of Chinese forums just for mother or baby, this could be a good way to increase the engagement of customers.
3- E-Reputation means everything in China
Every mother will look for your products, they will judge if your products are good through the different comments that others will put about your products. If they find bad comments, I can tell you now, nobody will pay or use them. you have to make sure that you get positive comments online. For better results, you should work with a marketing agency that will take care of your reputation.
4- Social media Campaigns
Because every Chinese are present on at least one social media, you should take advantage of this and create your official account. In China where we don’t have Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Whatapps because of China’s great firewall. You have to work with Chinese social media that are very powerful such as Wechat, and Weibo.
In fact, actually, Wechat is the most popular social network with more than 900 million active users, that’s just incredible! Thanks to Wecha, you can do everything by taking, paying bills, buying food, making a reservation, and so on. On the other side of Wechat, it’s you can create your Wechat official account to allow all your customers to get more information about you services and products. More interesting, you can open your Wechat store for selling your products
Don’t forget Weibo(the Chinese version of Twitter), with more than 700 million active users. Similar to Wechat, Weibo has great potential in marketing in China. You can make the promotion of your products directly on Weibo. Chinese people spend nearly 40% of their time on search engines
5- Influencers/Kols
Do you want to get credibility in China? don’t hesitate to use Chinese KOL or Influencers. They represent a big industry in China, they influence considerably the Chinese consumer’s decisions. An article published by Kol can make your product very popular. They are very powerful!
6- No more Google, but we have Baidu
In China, you don’t have to think about Google anymore, because it doesn’t exist thanks to the China great firewall.
It’s important to be visible on Baidu, with more than 968 million internet users and 80% of the market. You can’t be in China without this tool, it’s your weapon. You have to do SEO(Search Engine Optimize) on Baidu if you want to rank on the first page. You can also use a PPC(Pay Per Click).
There are different options for your marketing strategy. Either you can choose to settle national chains of fertility clinics or you can spend a significant budget on advertising to reach those young women who are trying to get pregnant. Chinese couples are looking for highly technological services, good interaction with physicians, spending more time with nurses, and meeting with other potential patients. In addition, it is obvious to think about social media strategies such as we chat because they represent powerful tools. However, in this field, organizing or supporting educational events is important to educate Chinese families and get their attention. It’s really important to understand Chinese couples’ mindsets.
GMA is a digital marketing agency based in Shanghai. We provide many services that can help you in your business in China thanks to our expertise.
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