NEW YORK, Feb. 20, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Chinese government's ongoing efforts to deal with the country's acute crisis in healthcare treatment for 1.3 billion people has resulted in China's awarding a mandate to Sunnylife Global (Pink Sheets:SNYL) to establish a "unique" membership hospital system and health care maintenance program.
The mandate represents a significant victory for the Chinese people, as well as for Sunnylife, and paves the way for change at all levels of the healthcare system, which represents some 20,000 hospitals nationwide.
This alliance has many people asking why the Chinese selected Sunnylife as the answer to its medical dilemma instead of teaming up with a well-established global hospital management corporation. Why, because Sunnylife understands the meaning of a "true social-economic partnership" with the Chinese government for the benefit of its people.
Founded in 1999 by Chinese-Americans Bridget Cheng, M.D. and Richard Lo, Sunnylife Global, Inc., with the assistance of Bruce Barren, has grown to be a provider of hospital healthcare management, assisted living facilities management and healthcare products designed for people living in China, utilizing both Western and Eastern healthcare techniques. With 2,000 shareholders, Sunnylife trades (Pink Sheets:SNYL) several hundred thousand per day, at a current market cap of about $100 million.
The hospital system in China has continued to operate at its early 20th century standards of medical care. The World Health Organization reported that between 1991 and 2001, China's governmental share of healthcare spending declined from over 6% of GNP to less than 4%, as contrasted with U.S. spending of approximately 16% of GNP. Meanwhile, the U.S. and most Western European countries have advanced their levels of healthcare dramatically through research and development, through the implementation of health maintenance techniques and through advanced medical school utilization of new scientific inventions for better care. China is now in the early stages of modernizing its health care industry, which represents $1.7 billion annually in value. Moreover, the over 55-year-old population is growing faster than their U.S. counterparts, which means that the growth rate will far exceed that of the U.S.
In 2003, the year of the SARS Crisis, Sunnylife donated health food supplements to the Red Cross of China. That year became part of the wake-up call needed to cause the Chinese government to open its medical market for an upgrade through an open-door policy.
China decided to develop a better managed health care delivery paradigm, which Sunnylife Global successfully addressed by introducing a system similar to the Kaiser Permanente HMO plan, which originated in California where most of the Chinese-American principals live and work today.
Sunnylife Global's successful 2004 equity joint venture with Xiang Tan Hospital in the People's Republic also impressed the Chinese government. State-owned since 1902, the hospital became the first joint venture with an American company after joining the World Trade Organization. Under Sunnylife Global, the World Friendship Hospital Group's purpose has been to upgrade Level 2 hospital facilities (with 300-500 beds per facility) to international standards and, at the same time, to introduce a stable HMO-based health insurance membership system to China.
To that end, the Chinese government is a 30% participant in the assets and profits, with SNYL owning a majority 70% of the venture.
According to the Economist, 80% of China's healthcare resources are concentrated in the cities where less than half the population lives. Level 2 hospitals (300-500 beds) comprise 70% of China's 20,000 medical facilities nationwide -- and are in great need of improvement. Of the eight existing Level 2 hospitals in which SNYL has an interest, two are scheduled to begin upgrades in early 2006. These hospitals will be introduced to membership-based preventative health care in their partnership with Sunnylife Global. Similar to Kaiser Permanente's Health Plans-Prepayment Insurance Program, Sunnylife will receive money-per-patient-per each hospital facility: $375 is paid to Sunnylife by the Chinese government for each one of 50,000 patients registered at each hospital.
China's population of 1.4 billion is aging, and as its economy becomes more market-driven, fewer workers will be employed by state-owned enterprises that supply guaranteed minimum health care and pension benefits, which will further necessitate the creation of private health insurance entities.
About Sunnylife Global, Inc.
Sunnylife Global, Inc. has developed a Health Care Management System (HCMS) in conjunction with the Chinese government authorities that will result in delivering superior quality health care management to its members. The Company is in multiple joint-venture agreements with the World Friendship Hospital Group to renovate and revitalize China's older hospital facilities in order to meet the current international standard. Sunnylife has developed the HCMS to meet the standard and is planning to launch in the very near future. In addition, the Company has patented natural, environmentally safe and economically affordable products which it plans to introduce to Chinese customers through seven different joint-venture companies in China. Sunnylife represents an organization staffed with professional experts in product research, quality acceptance testing, and market development for service to China and the global markets. For more information, please visit: http://www.sunnylifeglobal.com.
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The statements contained herein, which are not historical, are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company, or persons acting for the Company, are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements.