On the afternoon of August 12, 2026, a deep discussion on the future form of retail pharmacies took place in the main hall of the Boao Forum for Asia Hotel. As a key part of the Health Industry Summit, the Health Industry Ecology Conference, themed "New Business Paradigms," brought together representatives from companies such as Tianjin Darentang, Yunnan Baiyao Group Co., Ltd. (000538.SZ), Dong-E-E-Jiao Co., Ltd. (000423.SZ), Huajun Jiangzhong, Pfizer (PFE.US) China, and Zhongkang Technology (02361), alongside leaders from major pharmacy chains like Yixintang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (002727.SZ) and Shuyu Civilian Pharmacy Corp., Ltd. (301017.SZ). They jointly explored the transformation path for retail pharmacies in the AI era. The conference chair, Xu Yongqian, GM of Huajun Jiangzhong, highlighted the urgency of the change in his opening remarks: the fragmented, consumer-centric retail pharmacy model is being reshaped by AI's penetrating power, and the "Wellness Hub" business model has taken root.
Observations from the conference indicate that this transformation is backed by a clear national directive. In January of this year, the Ministry of Commerce and eight other departments issued the "Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Development of Pharmaceutical Retail," for the first time at the national level promoting the upgrade of pharmacies from "drug sales terminals" to "Wellness Hubs," strengthening the three core functions of professional services, health promotion, and emergency support. Almost concurrently, the National Health "15th Five-Year Plan" explicitly stated a shift from a "disease-centered" to a "health-centered" approach, aiming to build a full-lifecycle health management service system. Liang Guanzhang, VP of Zhongkang Technology, outlined the policy trajectory, noting that from setting the direction in 2015, to the first mention of transformation in the "14th Five-Year Plan," to this year's document setting the tone, the repositioning of pharmacy functions has become clear. "The Wellness Hub is no longer just a slogan; it is the next step in undertaking comprehensive services like medication consultation, weight loss and smoking cessation, and medical-nursing integration."
However, while policy paints a blueprint, real-world data reveals a chilling reality. Data shared by Liang Guanzhang gave attendees pause: the number of pharmacies nationwide has dropped from a peak of 702,000 to 680,000, with a net decrease of 22,000 in 2025 and a closure rate of 7.5%. The industry has fully shifted from a decade of quantitative expansion to a stock competition. The operational front is equally concerning. From January to May this year, total retail sales grew only 1.5%, and the overall gross profit margin of pharmacies has fallen to around 30% from 2023 levels. More striking is the customer traffic data: overall traffic is declining continuously, even as the proportion of consumers with high health concerns has risen from 83.9% in 2023 to 93%. Diverse demands for gut health, sleep, cardiovascular health, immunity, and oral care have far exceeded the traditional scope of "seeing a doctor for medicine."
Facing a crossroads, what exactly should a Wellness Hub look like? Li Junguo, VP of Zhongkang Technology, provided a key definition: the Wellness Hub is the "last mile" of health management. He explained that globally, doctors are not used for post-consultation or post-discharge health management due to prohibitive social costs. What the Wellness Hub undertakes is the management of adherence to healthy lifestyles after medical diagnosis, including medication adherence, exercise prescriptions, and nutritional prescriptions—the four remaining items of the clinical five prescriptions that doctors have no time for. This means pharmacies must shift from being "places to sell drugs" to "health-based scenarios," moving from one-off transactions to long-term companionship, and possessing the three core capabilities of professional service, member operation, and data penetration. In Li Junguo's view, the initial phase of the Wellness Hub focuses on disease course management, with the later stage advancing to full-lifecycle health management. "First manage the existing illness, then you can manage the complete health journey."
Concurrently, several pharmaceutical companies shared their unique professional renewal paths. Wang Lei, Chairman of Tianjin Darentang Group, focused on the cardiovascular and brain health field. Moving beyond the traditional hospital perspective, he constructed nearly a hundred life scenarios across five dimensions, including time and space, summarizing the service logic of "routinely stock, routinely take, routinely manage." Clinical observations from 2,817 cases with 12 top-tier hospitals showed that its Suxiao Jiuxin Pill has a clinical application rate of 92.2%, with prominent safety in cases of acute myocardial infarction with hypotension. Wang Lei revealed plans to distribute 100,000 emergency home medicine kits to protect the heart health of 500 million families and will partner with Alipay to create the first AI agent for heart protection. Zheng Xiangwei, GM of the Pharmaceutical Business Division of Yunnan Baiyao Group Co., Ltd., proposed providing comprehensive solutions from the four dimensions of "medical care, treatment, nourishment, and prevention." By collaborating with platforms like Peking University and West China Hospital for evidence-based research, he aims to extend the company's traditional advantages from trauma treatment to cardiovascular improvement, oral health, scalp care, and the medicinal and food homologous field, achieving a leap from "selling products" to "selling solutions."
Under the pressure of stock competition, expanding into incremental tracks has become a common choice for enterprises. Dong-E-E-Jiao Co., Ltd. announced a strategic shift at the conference, extending from women's nourishment to men's nourishment, proposing to redefine the "kidney tonic" category as a new "Men's Health and Vitality" track. Through acquisitions, the company has secured raw material resources like desert cistanche and sika deer. Products including Jiannao Bushen Oral Liquid and Antler Powder are set to launch between August and September, planning to focus on 10 to 50 core chains to build an incremental market. Huajun Jiangzhong continues to deepen its "home essential" track, launching new packaging for Lactobacillus tablets, Bifidobacterium Triple Viable Capsules (hospital-to-retail), Naolijing, Multivitamin Tablets, and Ganchun Tablets. These four new products cover gut health, brain health, balanced nutrition, and liver care, building a comprehensive health product matrix for all home scenarios.
Of course, while building uniqueness, technological innovation also appears to be providing the underlying support for this transformation. Li Guanglai, Head of Retail Business at Pfizer China, shared innovative practices in out-of-hospital weight management. By partnering with fitness brands for traffic generation, setting up 3D body scans and professional pharmacist services in pharmacies, combined with AI calorie recognition and one-on-one patient management, they aim to upgrade weight loss from "selling products" to "defining a lifestyle." Li Guanglai emphasized that Pfizer's motto is "Benefit the patient first, benefit the partner first," and the company will continue to expand its product pipeline, extending in-hospital professionalism to out-of-hospital life scenarios.
Between the ideal and reality lie several unresolved challenges. During the roundtable forum, Ruan Hongxian, Chairman of Yixintang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., bluntly stated that "the biggest obstacle is ourselves." If corporate mindsets do not change in sync with policies, markets, and consumers, "are we just waiting to die?" Li Wenjie, Chairman of Shuyu Civilian Pharmacy Corp., Ltd., specifically pointed out five major difficulties: first, the high comprehensive quality requirements for staff conflict with a weak talent base, with only 757,000 registered pharmacists nationwide and a shortage of 440,000; second, the long-standing sales-oriented performance evaluation system in chain pharmacies is difficult to quickly shift to a service orientation; third, the capital investment required for store hardware upgrades is immense; fourth, hospital and pharmacy data are not interconnected, making full-lifecycle management difficult to achieve; and fifth, some health monitoring services like blood pressure, blood sugar, and bone density tests remain in a policy gray area, with compliance risks constraining service development. Li Guanglai added from an industry perspective that building a Wellness Hub is an ecological project, requiring industries and retailers to break the boundary of "product transactions" and jointly invest resources in cultivating the market.
In fact, by the end of the discussion, all participating guests agreed that the Wellness Hub is the only confirmed direction for the industry's transformation, but it is by no means an overnight achievement. As host Xu Yongqian stated, the starting point of the health industry has always been the home. When drugs transform from treatment tools into a part of people's lifestyles, whoever can help consumers achieve a "better version of themselves" will have the opportunity to redefine the rules of the game. Driven by the dual forces of AI technological innovation and policy dividends, the restructuring of the retail pharmacy business model has been accelerated. Mastering the "drugs + services" business model will be the key to determining the success of this transformation.
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