Billion-Dollar Market Sees Controlling Acquisition as Industry Consolidation Accelerates

VCBeat has learned that Zhejiang Xile Liannian Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Xile Liannian”) recently announced the completion of its controlling acquisition of Shenzhen Yingquan Health Management Consulting Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Nanfang Health”), while also introducing state-owned and industry-backed shareholders. This marks a significant step for Xile Liannian in strengthening its core capabilities in pharmaceutical digital marketing.

Xile Liannian Holdings Acquires Nanfang Health to Expand Domestic and International Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Resources, Leverage Digital Technologies to Create Diversified Internet Marketing Scenarios, and Achieve Efficient Conversion of Pharmaceutical and General Health Products Through Multi-Platform Channel, Content, and Traffic Upgrades. The acquisition was jointly driven by the medical investment team under Zhongjun Yatai Group and the pharmaceutical e-commerce team of Xile Liannian.

Xile Liannian is a key platform under Zhongjun Yatai Group for conducting e-commerce operations in the medical and general health sector.

Since its establishment in 2018, Zhongjun Yatai Group has remained committed to healthcare and wellness as its core focus, while strategically developing three innovative industries: the digital economy and intelligent manufacturing. The group strives to become an urban industrial financial ecosystem service provider driven by the dual engines of real economy operations and capital investment. Its core business segments include private equity investment (Zhongxi Fund), sci-tech innovation industry services (Zhongfu Shares), and tech-enabled e-commerce (Xile Liannian). Over the past six years, leveraging professional investment expertise and accumulated client resources, Zhongjun Yatai has established a digital marketing system and ecosystem for healthcare and wellness that integrates online and offline resources, combines product development with sales channels, and ensures close synergy between investment/financing and e-commerce operations.

Leveraging Zhongjun Yatai’s financial strength and equity investment experience, Xile Liannian has continued in recent years to deepen its layout in the medical and health e-commerce sector through a combination of self-built initiatives and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Notably, during interviews, senior executives from Zhongjun Yatai Group revealed that M&A will remain the primary strategy for Xile Liannian’s business expansion, both at present and for the foreseeable future.

This is, on the one hand, because holding acquisitions are Zhongjun Yatai’s area of expertise; on the other hand, it aligns with the current development trends in the capital market.

At this stage, as China’s economy enters a new phase of high-quality development, many industries, including healthcare, have reached maturity. While market competition is intensifying, the demand for industry consolidation is also growing. Coupled with the temporary closure of exit channels due to the phased tightening of IPOs, China’s M&A market is accumulating momentum, signaling the advent of a systematic era of transactions characterized by industry consolidation.

In response, Xile Liannian has adopted a dual-pronged approach: on one hand, it has established an expansion strategy centered on mergers and acquisitions; on the other, it has set forth a three-tiered objective encompassing traffic, brand, and supply chain. The acquisition of a controlling stake in Nanfang Health represents a significant step for Xile Liannian in strengthening its front-end traffic layout.

In recent years, digital marketing in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors has experienced robust growth.

According to Frost & Sullivan, the market size of digital marketing in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector is projected to further expand, reaching RMB 111.0 billion in 2025 and RMB 356.8 billion in 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33.9% from 2025 to 2030.

Behind the rapid growth are two driving factors: first, policy guidance has reshaped the broader pharmaceutical and healthcare market, compelling pharmaceutical companies to upgrade their marketing strategies; second, shifts in the zeitgeist and advances in digital technology have fundamentally transformed how the public accesses information. As a result, digital marketing has become a critical competitive battleground for pharmaceutical and medical device companies, covering key stages across the entire product lifecycle and patient journey, with its penetration continuing to deepen.

Meanwhile, against the backdrop of tightening regulations, the digital marketing sector within the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry has undergone a round of “consolidation.” During this process, companies unable to meet compliance requirements, large-scale dissemination needs, and scientific content production demands have been gradually eliminated or integrated, with industry resources increasingly concentrating among leading enterprises. In the view of Xile Liannian, leading enterprises hold greater development potential in the future.

There are four primary reasons why Nanfang Health has been consistently favored by Xile in recent years: First, it possesses deep reserves of expert resources and the capability to produce large volumes of professional, authoritative content. Second, it has a comprehensive and diverse communication matrix. Third, it maintains close ties with numerous authoritative academic associations, government agencies, and official media outlets, including the China Education Center, the China Advertising Association, provincial and municipal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCs), and People’s Daily Online; furthermore, it jointly planned the health IP publication *Practical Tutorial on Big Health IP* with the China Health Promotion and Education Association, thereby promoting steady and substantial development within the industry. Fourth, leveraging the founding team’s extensive experience in the “Internet + Pharmaceutical” sector, it has created a series of hit products, validating its development strategies and operational capabilities.

Following the acquisition, Nanfang Health will continue to operate independently under its founding team. Xile Lianjiang will empower Nanfang Health to achieve transformation and upgrading, deeply tap into the potential of innovative intellectual property (IP), and explore new pathways for sustainable value growth. By integrating resources, optimizing processes, and innovating business models, Nanfang Health’s market value will be reshaped and significantly enhanced.

In the future, as Xile Liannian further refines its integrated layout of original content, IP-driven traffic (public domain + private domain), and outdoor digital media resources, it will also enhance its supply chain and brand strategy. The goal is to establish a systematic network channel for digital marketing in the medical and health sector, thereby providing pharmaceutical and medical device brands with more comprehensive and efficient marketing solutions, while delivering higher-quality health products and services to consumers.

For Zhongjun Yatai, this acquisition not only marks the group’s first significant foray into the medical and big health sector, but also signifies its intent to seize the historic opportunities currently facing the M&A fund industry. Through a series of strategic mergers and acquisitions, the group aims to propel its industrial and value chains to higher levels. This move will inject new momentum into Zhongjun Yatai Group’s development in the medical and big health sector, while laying a solid foundation for its long-term strategic layout.