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Chaoju Eye Care Holdings Ltd. (2219.HK) is setting its sights on China’s lucrative private hospital business, catering to a growing middle class with money to spend outside the national healthcare system that covers basic needs. Working from its base in China’s less-affluent Inner Mongolia region, the company began the year by announcing its purchase of the Beijing Mingyue Ophthalmic Clinic Co. in China’s far more affluent capital for 36.8 million yuan ($5.2 million).
That was after the company added eight ophthalmic hospitals and two optical centers to its network between June 2022 and June 2023, six of those through acquisitions, giving it 26 hospitals and 27 optical centers. The hospitals provide comprehensive eye care services, while the optical centers offer more basic services, such as eyeglass fitting and simple eye tests. In March last year, the company also bought its own eyeglass factory in the Ningxia region.