Amid China's Low-Fertility Era, Anxin Health Bets Big on Reproductive Health
The relationship between population and the economy has always been closely intertwined, a phenomenon known as the "demographic dividend." This term refers to a situation in which the working-age population accounts for a large proportion of the total population, resulting in a low dependency ratio. Such demographic conditions create favorable circumstances for economic development, leading to an overall national economic landscape characterized by high savings, high investment, and high growth.
In particular, in January 2013, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that China’s working-age population (aged 15–59) experienced its first absolute decline after a prolonged period, decreasing by 3.45 million from the previous year. This signals the waning of the demographic dividend, implying that China’s economy will face a “deceleration hurdle” in the future.
On October 24, 2018, at the invitation of the organizers, Premier Li Keqiang delivered a report on the economic situation at the 17th National Congress of Chinese Trade Unions. He stated that China’s four decades of reform and opening-up have led to continuous improvements in the quality and skill levels of the vast workforce. The acceleration of the transition from a “demographic dividend” to a “talent dividend” constitutes the greatest source of confidence in China’s development.
Although the universal two-child policy has been implemented, China’s fertility rate has not shown significant improvement and even shows signs of entering an era of “low fertility.”
In the era of declining birth rates, will companies with businesses centered around childbirth also be affected? To explore this, we interviewed Ge Xing, CEO of Anxin Health, a star enterprise in the internet healthcare sector, to hear his perspective.
Recently, changes in China’s demographic landscape have been drawing increasing attention.
According to the 2018 Chinese population data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on January 21, 2019, the number of births in China in 2018 was 15.23 million, a decrease of exactly 2 million from 2017. This marks the second consecutive year of decline in the number of births. Meanwhile, the proportion of the population aged 60 and above hit a record high, and the size of the working-age population declined for the first time.
Liang Jianzhang, a professor at Guanghua School of Management, Peking University, and a demographic economist, believes that China’s population issue has already escalated into a crisis. He warns that China’s degree of aging may surpass that of Japan 30 years ago, with the severity of its demographic challenge being the highest globally. If this population problem remains unresolved, China’s GDP in 2060 could be 30% lower than it was in 2040.
Experts believe that the decline in women’s fertility rate is attributable to two factors: a continuous decrease in the number of women of childbearing age and a persistent decline in their willingness to have children. Currently, women born in the 1990s are in their peak childbearing years; over the next decade, the number of women in this peak childbearing cohort is projected to drop by more than 40%. Moreover, the extremely low fertility intentions among the general public, coupled with an exceedingly high “child-rearing burden index,” constitute objective barriers to childbirth.
In addition,Ge Xing believes that the large population of infertile couples remains the primary cause, which has objectively impacted the fertility rate. There is no shortage of such cases among those around him:
“We’ve been undergoing treatment for three years and still haven’t conceived. Dr. Xu Miao, please do help us!”
“I’ve taken a whole bunch of medications, but they still haven’t worked. Dr. Xu Miao, what should I do…”
Xu Miao, Director of the Department of Reproductive Health and Infertility at Guangzhou Elizabeth Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, stated, “In my nearly 20-year medical career, I have encountered countless patients struggling with infertility. I deeply empathize with their sorrow, heartache, and sense of helplessness. However, the journey to parenthood does not always unfold smoothly for every family; some must endure significant hardships. Yet, please do not give up. As long as your desire to become a mother remains unwavering, a positive outcome is within reach. I will do everything in my power to help you fulfill this dream.”
Dr. Wang Lijun, President of Tianjin Tianyun Hospital, stated, “Many people believe that having given birth once precludes the possibility of infertility, but this is not the case. It is still possible to develop infertility after childbirth. Secondary infertility is defined as the inability to conceive for 12 consecutive months without contraception in individuals with a prior history of pregnancy. Approximately 40% of female infertility cases are secondary. As women age, their fertility declines; therefore, one should not assume that having previously given birth or been pregnant guarantees future fertility. If conception does not occur, it is advisable to undergo systematic and standardized medical evaluations at a hospital.”
To this end, Ge Xing stated: “As one of the leading platforms in the women’s and children’s health sector, we have helped more users struggling with infertility overcome their challenges and have explored a development path for assisted reproductive technology.”
Anxin Health was founded in 2015,Not only has it secured over RMB 200 million in financing, but it also possessesOver 20,000 doctors in public hospitals, 80% from tertiary hospitals and specialized women's and children's hospitals,Covering 32 core cities across China, having cumulatively served 7 million patients.
After four years, Anxin Health has grown into a formidable playerChina’s leading mobile health platform for women’s and children’s health. Throughout its development, the company has consistently believed that the maternal and pediatric sectors hold significant promise. Its physician-facing app provides obstetricians, gynecologists, and pediatricians with tools to manage post-consultation patients, including follow-ups, consultations, and appointments at offline clinics. Patients can establish contact with physicians by following them on WeChat.
With the full relaxation of the two-child policy,Public medical institutions can only meet 20% of the demand for assisted reproductive technology (ART) patients.Ge Xing believes this presents an excellent opportunity for private medical institutions. Therefore,While maintaining its core focus on women’s and children’s health, the organization has proactively explored a new growth avenue—assisted reproductive technology (ART)—with the aim of helping more families achieve their dream of having children.
Prior to this, he conducted thorough market research to validate whether this direction was correct. Subsequently, he drew two conclusions:
First, against the backdrop of China’s broader fertility landscape, the assisted reproductive technology (ART) market faces a severe supply-demand imbalance. Statistics show that only 451 institutions in China currently hold licenses for reproductive services, far failing to meet public demand. There are as many as 40 million women of childbearing age experiencing infertility, and approximately 20% of the nearly 20 million newborns each year are conceived through ART. This significant unmet demand has spurred the emergence of numerous private reproductive healthcare institutions; however, these private entities struggle with patient acquisition.
Second, there is a severe information asymmetry between doctors and patients in the assisted reproductive technology (ART) industry, making it difficult for patients to find suitable institutions to address their reproductive needs and issues. According to Ge Xing’s analysis, the current situation of patients in the ART field closely resembles that of the medical aesthetics sector three years ago: many patients/consumers with medical aesthetics needs were unable to find appropriate solutions in public hospitals, leading to the emergence and prominence of numerous private medical aesthetics institutions.
However, these private medical aesthetic institutions have limited traffic. They can only ensure sufficient traffic by engaging in extensive marketing and collaborating with high-traffic platforms such as Baidu for user redirection. In response to this situation, online traffic platforms specializing in the medical aesthetics sector, such as SoYoung, acquire traffic through large volumes of user-generated content (UGC), attracting institutions to their platforms and achieving the most direct, precise, and relatively low-cost user redirection.
Anxin Health adopts a largely similar approach, acquiring patients through rich content on channels such as “One-Answer” and various services offered by its internet hospital. By tagging users based on their platform behavior, it identifies those with needs in areas like assisted reproduction and postpartum recovery, and precisely connects them with private healthcare institutions capable of providing relevant services on the platform, thereby completing the commercial loop.
After thorough research, Ge Xing gained full confidence to continue expanding into the field of assisted reproductive technology while maintaining his existing business.
In Ge Xing’s vision, Anxin Health serves as a bridge connecting doctors with patients, as well as private healthcare institutions with patients.
With Anxin Health’s platform engaging nearly one million active patients each month, over half of whom come from obstetrics and assisted reproductive technology (ART)-related departments, this provides a guaranteed patient flow and access to high-quality medical resources for developing ART services, serving as a key advantage in attracting users.
Meanwhile, the company’s qualification as an internet hospital medical institution enables patients to access online services such as virtual consultations, remote diagnosis and treatment, and e-prescriptions on the platform. Users can also browse content from channels like “One-Answer,” which has accumulated nearly 2 million entries related to women’s and children’s health and medical care. This significantly expands the platform’s service reach and lays the foundation for future integration of medical institutions across China.
In short, Anxin Health continuously acquires precise traffic online and directs it to its internet hospital. The internet hospital features obstetrics, gynecology, pediatrics, and reproductive specialists from top-tier (Grade 3A) hospitals in first- and second-tier cities, providing high-quality medical services. By offering abundant professional content on obstetrics, gynecology, and reproduction, the platform earns patients’ trust. Offline, it connects with private medical institutions, helping them overcome customer acquisition challenges.
“We currently have offline partnerships with nearly 100 medical institutions, including maternity hospitals and other reproductive health facilities, as well as providers of overseas pregnancy and childbirth services, genetic testing, postpartum medical aesthetics, and postnatal care centers,” Ge Xing told the reporter.
In selecting partner institutions, he places great emphasis on the following criteria: First, eligible entities must be enterprises that provide formal medical services to women and children, meeting governmental requirements for delivering such services. Second, the participating enterprises primarily fall into three categories: assisted reproductive technologies (including IVF and other infertility treatments, overseas maternity services, etc.), postpartum care services (such as confinement centers, postpartum yoga, and postpartum aesthetic medicine), and maternity hospitals.
These enterprises joining the Anxin Health Platform will also benefit from enhanced brand awareness and a significant increase in traffic. For instance, Sidao Genetics & Infertility Treatment Center, which specializes in IVF, has seen a notable rise in brand recognition and customer footfall, along with a substantial reduction in customer acquisition costs, through its partnership with the Anxin Health Platform.
“In the future, we hope to onboard more private medical institutions, with a focus on fertility, and become China’s largest and most trusted healthcare service platform in the field of women’s and children’s health,” said Ge Xing.
Policy Deregulation Brings Dawn to the Assisted Reproductive Technology IndustryThis revolutionary moment occurred in 2007, when the authority to approve licenses for assisted reproductive technology (ART) was delegated to provincial health and family planning commissions. Consequently, while emphasizing quality standards and technical specifications, provinces across the country successively witnessed a surge in the approval of ART centers. Currently, nearly 70% of assisted reproductive centers have been approved by provincial-level health and family planning commissions.
As the demand for assisted reproductive services continued to expand, the authority to approve assisted reproduction institutions was delegated to provincial health and family planning commissions, allowing each province to formulate development plans tailored to local conditions. Over the following five years, the number of assisted reproduction institutions experienced explosive growth, surging from 95 in 2007 to 356 by the end of 2012.
On January 5, 2016, the State Council officially issued the “Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Implementing the Universal Two-Child Policy and Reforming and Improving Family Planning Service Management,” marking China’s full liberalization of the two-child policy.
Subsequently, there has been a significant increase in the number of individuals over the age of 35 seeking to conceive. Due to factors such as declining ovarian function in women and reduced sperm quality in men, natural conception rates in this age group have markedly decreased, necessitating the use of medical interventions to realize their “second-child dream.”
However, existing assisted reproductive technology (ART) institutions are far from meeting market demand. Based on the ART facility deployment plans of various provinces and municipalities, and calculated according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission’s standard of one institution per 3 million people, the upper limit for ART center licenses in the future will be no less than 550, leaving room for at least approximately 100 additional institutions.
Meanwhile, overseas assisted reproduction is also a supplement and an option.
In response, Bu Mingxing, CEO of Shiguan Wuyou, stated: “How can patients seek medical care ‘smartly’? We have developed a precision appointment service for patients. This so-called precision appointment service integrates patients’ individual conditions to more accurately match them with suitable physicians and identify appropriate medical resources. It also provides precise scheduling and one-on-one consultation accompaniment, enabling patients to enjoy greater autonomy, convenience, and peace of mind.”
“Such rapidly growing demand has made the reproductive health industry a new hotspot for market investment. According to estimates from the financing information platform PitchBook, investment in the U.S. assisted reproductive technology (ART) sector exceeded $178 million in 2017. Furthermore, Parenting Business Magazine reported that the global ART market would surpass $21 billion by 2020.” Said Shen Yang, founder of Sidao Genetics and Infertility Treatment Center, which specializes in overseas assisted reproduction, and holder of a master’s degree from Yale University: “My team has assembled a large group of world-class experts in IVF clinical practice and laboratory science, and has already helped thousands of families successfully achieve pregnancy.”