Retail Operations
Due to China's former planned economy system, hospitals are still the main distributors of pharmaceuticals. In 2003, only 15.1% of total drug expeditures were incurred at pharmacy stores.(Meng 2005) The Chinese government legalized foreign ownership of retail pharmacies in 2003. Corporations such as Alliance Boots have formed retail and distribution joint ventures in China, mainly focused on Guangdong province.
Many companies have said that the drug distribution system in China is inefficient and adds considerably to the retail costs of medicine. Also there have been complaints of unclear regulations, low profitability, complex licensing procedure, hospital bidding, and reimbursement schemes.
Read more about this topic: Pharmaceutical Industry In The People's Republic Of China
Famous quotes containing the words retail and/or operations:
“A free-enterprise economy depends only on markets, and according to the most advanced mathematical macroeconomic theory, markets depend only on moods: specifically, the mood of the men in the pinstripes, also known as the Boys on the Street. When the Boys are in a good mood, the market thrives; when they get scared or sullen, it is time for each one of us to look into the retail apple business.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
“It may seem strange that any road through such a wilderness should be passable, even in winter, when the snow is three or four feet deep, but at that season, wherever lumbering operations are actively carried on, teams are continually passing on the single track, and it becomes as smooth almost as a railway.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)