In the medical field, Academician Li Lanjuan's name is like a bright star, shining brightly. This authoritative expert in liver transplantation and a leader in infectious diseases has won wide acclaim across the country and even the world for his excellent medical skills and selfless dedication. However, a recent news about his family's net worth or nearly 4 billion yuan is like a pebble thrown into the lake, which has aroused the public's in-depth discussion on the source of wealth of Academician Li Lanjuan and her family, business operation mode and social role, and triggered mixed public opinion reactions.
On March 27, 2024, Shulan Medical once again submitted an application for listing on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, a move that not only revealed its ambitions in the medical field, but also brought the huge wealth of the Li Lanjuan family into focus. According to public information, Shulan Medical's post-investment valuation after the D round of financing is as high as 8 billion yuan, and the largest shareholder, Shulan Investment, holds 46.91% of the shares, and the investment entity is held by Zheng Shusen, the husband of Academician Li Lanjuan, and his sons Zheng Jie and Zheng Jun hold 60% and 40% of the interests respectively. According to this calculation, the shares of Shulan Medical directly or indirectly held by Li Lanjuan's family are worth nearly 4 billion yuan, which is undoubtedly an astonishing wealth.
Academician Li Lanjuan is a well-known infectious disease expert in mainland China who has played a key role in the new crown epidemic. In the face of the sudden epidemic, she was ordered to resolutely join the front line of the fight against the epidemic at the age of 73. With her profound academic skills and rich clinical experience, she quickly and accurately judged the characteristics of the virus, which provided a scientific basis for the formulation of epidemic prevention and control strategies. Li Lanjuan advocated and actively promoted the implementation of the "four earlys" (early detection, early reporting, early isolation, and early treatment), which effectively curbed the spread of the epidemic. She advocated for the lockdown of Wuhan when the epidemic was severe in the early days, and this bold decision played a decisive role in controlling the spread of the epidemic. At the same time, she led the team to develop rapid detection reagents to improve diagnostic efficiency and gain valuable time for timely treatment of patients.
In terms of clinical treatment, Li Lanjuan proposed an individualized treatment plan of "one person, one policy", and innovatively applied artificial liver and other technologies to treat severe patients, which significantly improved the cure rate and reduced the mortality rate. She also actively promoted the application and research of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of the new crown, demonstrating the unique advantages of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine in fighting the epidemic. In addition, Li Lanjuan actively carried out popular science education for the public, interpreted the epidemic dynamics and prevention and control knowledge in plain and easy-to-understand language, calmed social emotions, and guided the public to prevent the epidemic scientifically. Her rigorous scientific research attitude, selfless dedication and reverence for life have won the respect and praise of the whole society.
Li Lanjuan's family history is closely linked to her profound medical background. In 1986, she and her husband Zheng Shusen co-founded the first liver transplant center in mainland China, opening a brilliant chapter in the field of liver disease diagnosis and treatment. However, the turning point that truly turned medical achievements into commercial value was undoubtedly the opening of the first Shulan Hospital on December 30, 2014. Relying on the professional influence and scientific research achievements of two academicians, Li Lanjuan and Zheng Shusen, this socially-run comprehensive medical institution located in Hangzhou has quickly emerged in the high-end medical service market.
In just a few years, Shulan Medical Group has continued to grow and develop, successively opened branches in Anji, Quzhou and other places, and actively deployed in the fields of surgical robots and stem cells, demonstrating strong business development capabilities and technological innovation strength. Although Shulan Medical is still in a loss-making state from 2021 to 2023, the year-on-year revenue data (1.548 billion yuan, 1.778 billion yuan, and 1.884 billion yuan, respectively) and continuous capital injection show the market's optimistic expectations for its future profitability.
In the face of the news that Li Lanjuan's family is sitting on a huge fortune, the public reaction has been sharply polarized. On the one hand, many supporters believe that Academician Li Lanjuan and her family have successfully built an internationally competitive medical service institution through professional ability and hard work, and achieved a high degree of unity between personal value and social value. They praised the Li Lanjuan family as a model of the combination of "production, education and research", and its commercial success is a strong proof of the ability to transform scientific research achievements, and it is also an effective response to the mainland's social medical policy, which will help promote the diversified development of the medical and health industry.
Critics worry that Li Lanjuan's family's involvement in the business sector and the accumulation of huge wealth as a state academician and public official could blur the lines between public and private and lead to conflicts of interest. They called for further improvement of the relevant system to ensure that academic authorities can strictly abide by professional ethics and laws and regulations when participating in business activities, and avoid improper use of public resources.
It has been pointed out that although high-end private medical institutions such as Shulan Medical provide high-quality and personalized medical services, their high costs are often prohibitive for ordinary people, which may exacerbate the imbalance in the distribution of medical resources. They called on the Li Lanjuan family and Shulan Medical to pay more attention to the improvement of primary medical care and public health services while pursuing commercial success, and to practice social responsibility and promote medical equity with practical actions.
Given that Shulan Medical is still in a loss-making state, some members of the public have expressed concern about the logic behind such high valuations, and have asked the company to improve the transparency of financial information and accept stricter market supervision to dispel concerns about "valuation bubbles" or potential benefit transfer.
The news that Li Lanjuan's family is worth nearly $4 billion reflects the increasingly blurred boundaries between academic authority and commercial success in today's society, bringing not only personal and corporate glory, but also a deep reflection on issues such as public-private relations, medical fairness, and business transparency. In the face of mixed public reviews, Li Lanjuan's family and Shulan Medical need to pay more attention to communication with the public, strengthen the awareness of corporate social responsibility, respond to social concerns with practical actions, and contribute to the healthy development of the mainland's medical and health undertakings while pursuing business development. At the same time, policymakers and regulators should adjust and improve relevant rules in a timely manner to ensure positive interaction between academia and business, and maintain public trust and confidence in the healthcare system.