China’s Healthcare Sector: What Role for European SMEs?

Filippo Pallaroni is the EU SME Centre Training Centre Coordinator. He organises and oversees the implementation of hybrid workshops and webinars for the Centre.

Filippo is an Italian young graduate interested in EU-China trade relations and their geopolitical implications. Starting with a focus on the Italian economic presence in China, he has expanded its range of interest to European SMEs and their role in the Chinese market.

Filippo holds a master’s degree in International Governance and Diplomacy from SciencesPo Paris and Peking University together with a BA in International Relations from the University of Bologna.

Jens Ewert, a Senior Partner with Deloitte China, has over 30 years of working experience in the professional services. Based in Shanghai since end 2002, he has been a member of Deloitte China Eastern Region Management team since then. Jens is the national leader for Deloitte China Life Science & Health Care Industry, leading a dedicated industry team comprising over 1000+ partners and professionals. He also covers our full range of multidisciplinary services, from consulting, risk & financial & tax advisory and audit & assurance, offering to Multinational Clients in China.

Jens has received the ‘Magnolia Silver Award’ from the Shanghai Government in September 2021, recognizing foreign business leaders for their special and outstanding contribution to the City’s development. He is also a Board member at the EUCCC Shanghai and the National Vice-Chair of the Investment Working group at the EU Chamber in China.
Prior to moving to China, he has been working in numerous countries always in professional services, such as France, Hungary, Vietnam and Indonesia. He hold a Master degree from University Paris X Dauphine in Business & Finance and a Diploma of Political Science from Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. He also attended numerous executive programs at IMD and Insead. He is married to Christine and calls France his home.

Hamish King, LLB, RAC is CEO at Cisema, a regulatory and compliance consultancy for China founded in Munich and Beijing in 2002. Cisema is a 100-strong family-owned company providing regulatory and compliance services for China and Hong Kong, including product registration, in-China testing, clinical studies and writing, regulatory communications, local agent, post market surveillance, quality control and audits.

A lawyer by training – admitted in Hong Kong and NSW, Australia – Hamish previously worked with UK Magic Circle Firm Linklaters in Hong Kong, and has over 10 years’ experience in the legal and regulatory fields. He has obtained the RAC and CFA qualifications. Regularly writing articles and speaking on China regulatory pathways and registration points, he currently lives in Hong Kong and specialises in NMPA registrations and compliance.

Valtero Canepa, General Manager, Bracco Sine Pharmaceutical Shanghai. After an extensive career, including, among others, the roles of Global Marketing Director and Country Manager Italy, Mr Canepa moved to China in 2013, and he is presently responsible for the mainland and Hong Kong business of Bracco, an Italian Healthcare Group, specialized in contrast agents for diagnostic imaging and related medical devices. Mr Canepa manages the three Chinese companies of the Group (two affiliates and a JV), accounting for about 1.6 billion RMB and employing more than four hundred people, including R&D, business development, medical and regulatory, production, distribution, promotion, and sales. The largest among the three companies, BraccoSine, is presently expanding its presence in China, with the construction of a new production plan in Pudong (Shanghai), with an investment of more than 300 million RMB. Mr Canepa is a strong supporter of the cooperation between China and Italy, and he has been Vice President of the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce (CICC) for six years and among the founders of the Healthcare Working Group of the CICC of which he is presently the coordinator. He is a strong believer of the social responsibility of companies, and he is personally leading several ESG driven initiatives of the Bracco Group in China. Among them the support to schools in rural areas of China, with donation of computers and the creation of a “Bracco” library, and the Volunteer Day during which the company employees dedicated one day to environmentally and socially relevant causes. In 2022 he has been awarded the Silver Magnolia Award by the Shanghai government.

Jintao Yu is the Sales Director for Greater China at Copan Medical Shanghai, a wholly owned subsidiary of Copan Group Italy. With over 10 years of experience across multiple business functions, Jintao specializes in market access strategies and operational management in China. He has a strong background in building strategic partnerships, navigating regulatory environments, and supporting the localization of European products in the Chinese healthcare sector.