China Law Blog

"Dealing with the animals was always fun, but I could no longer stand dealing with their owners."
--- Explanation for retiring given to me by a retired veterinarian I know

Back when we first started this blog nearly three years ago, I felt somewhat like a voice calling in the wilderness whenever we would tout how companies needed to look at China as more than just factories. Now, this idea has pretty much become common currency and so, though this is Number 17 in our series, this is the first we have done this year.

The reason for bringing this series out of its quasi-retirement is that I just read a very interesting Bizcult post, entitled, "Zeroing In on the Pet Niche." The article is on "a state-of-the-art 5,000 square foot veterinary hospital with 15 staff members in Chaoyang District," Beijing. I am guessing most of this hospital's clientele (the human side anyway) are ex-pats, but the fact that such a hospital is succeeding speak volumes about what is happening in China. What is happening is that the wealth of China's urban class is rising and with that rising wealth comes the need for personal services and that apparently includes a chichi animal hospital for one's pets.