HONG KONG, Feb.22, 2011
/PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- China Cord Blood Corporation (NYSE:
CO) ("CCBC" or "the Company"), the first and largest cord blood
banking operator in China, today
announced the formation of Zhejiang Lukou Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
("Zhejiang Lukou"), an indirect non-wholly owned subsidiary with
the Zhejiang Provincial Blood Center, pursuant to the Company's
framework agreement announced in September
2010. Zhejiang Lukou, which is 90% owned by CCBC, will
operate, on an exclusive basis, its cord blood banking services in
the Zhejiang province.
Under China's "One License per
Region" policy, only one cord blood bank license is granted per
province or municipality. The Zhejiang cord blood banking
license would be the seventh license granted in China and represents the first license issued
since 2008. Operating the Zhejiang subsidiary will broaden CCBC's
coverage into the new and previously untapped market of the
Zhejiang province.
Ms. Ting Zheng, Chairperson and CEO of China Cord Blood
Corporation, stated, "We continue to make solid progress on the
commercialization of our Zhejiang
cord blood banking operation, and today's announcement is an
important step toward commercializing our services in this
previously untapped region. We are excited about the opening
of Zhejiang Lukou, and from there, the next step in developing the
Zhejiang market is infrastructure
construction and building up our team, followed by a series of
pre-marketing initiatives and early-stage market education
activities. By replicating our successes in Beijing and Guangdong, we are confident that the
Zhejiang operation will commence
in a timely and efficient manner."
Zhejiang is one of the more
affluent regions in China, after
Shanghai, Beijing and Guangdong, with a birthrate of over 520,000
newborns per annum, according to the National Bureau of Statistics
of China. With the addition
of Zhejiang province, CCBC's
addressable market size will increase by more than 40% from
approximately 1.2 million newborns per year to more than 1.8
million newborns per year.
Ms. Zheng concluded, "We have successfully positioned ourselves
as the largest cord blood banking service provider in China and have captured several key affluent
regions, namely, Beijing,
Guangdong, Zhejiang and through our investment into the
exclusive operator, to include Shandong. With China's one-child policy,
rising household incomes and increasing public awareness of cord
blood banking benefits, we are very excited about CCBC's future
prospects. Aside from continuing our solid operational
performance and ongoing nationwide consolidation strategy, we are
also closely monitoring developments in the Asia Pacific region and will proactively
pursue any emerging opportunities. We are confident that our
shareholders will be greatly rewarded as we develop our leading
presence in the global cord blood banking industry."
About China Cord Blood Corporation
China Cord Blood Corporation is the first and largest cord blood
banking operator in China in terms
of geographical coverage and is the only cord blood banking
operator with multiple licenses. Under the current PRC
government regulations, only one licensed cord blood banking
operator is permitted to operate in each licensed region and only
seven licenses were authorized as of today. China Cord Blood
Corporation provides cord blood collection, laboratory testing,
hematopoietic stem cell processing, and stem cell storage services.
For more information, please visit our website at
http://www.chinacordbloodcorp.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements as
defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans,
objectives, goals, strategies, future events, performance and
results of operations, and underlying assumptions and other
statements that are other than statements of historical facts.
These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including,
but not limited to, product and service demand and acceptance,
changes in technology, economic conditions, the impact of
competition and pricing, government regulation, and other risks
contained in statements filed from time to time with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. All such forward-looking statements,
whether written or oral, and whether made by or on behalf of the
Company, are expressly qualified by the cautionary statements and
any other cautionary statements which may accompany the
forward-looking statements. In addition, the Company disclaims any
obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect
events or circumstances after the date hereof.
For more information, please
contact:
China Cord Blood
Corporation
Ms. Joeling Law
Tel: +852-3605-8180
Email: ir@chinacordbloodcorp.com
ICR, LLC
In New York:
Ashley M. Ammon
Tel: +1-646-277-1227
In Beijing:
Wen Lei Zheng
Tel: +86-10-6583-7510
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SOURCE China Cord Blood Corporation