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Chang-Hong Whitney03.04.09
The economic tsunami that is slamming world markets has been unprecedented in recent history and seems unstoppable for the foreseeable future. According to a recent New York Times article from Feb. 14, titled, “Job Losses Pose a Threat to Stability Worldwide,” global job losses from the recession that started in the United States in December 2007 could hit a staggering 50 million by the end of this year, according to figures from the International Labor Organization, an agency within the United Nations.
China Daily reported on Jan. 21 that China’s registered unemployment rate in urban areas jumped for the first time in five years to 4.2 percent as of Dec. 31, according to the country’s Ministry of Human Re-sources and Social Security. China’s Xinhua News Agency reported in November of last year that China’s gross domestic product growth was expected to slow to 9.4 percent in 2008 from 11.4 percent in 2007, as shrinking exports impact the world’s fourth largest economy. These gloomy numbers lead to the questions: How is the Chinese medical marketing doing today, and what does the future hold?
Chang-Hong Whitney is president of Whitney Consulting Ltd. in Massachusetts. With an MBA from Babson College (Wellesley, Mass.) and undergraduate degrees in electronic engineering and international business, she has been consulting for western companies on doing business in China since 1994, focusing on the medical device market. Her services include China regulatory affairs, market research, sourcing and logistics programs and China business strategies. She can be reached at changhong@whitneyconsulting.net.