Should China Capitalize on $4.4 Billion Opportunities in Medical Cannabis Market

As the demand for CBD as a medicinal ingredient keeps increasing globally, many countries are seeking to legalize the production of this week all around. Countries like South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia already settled upon legalizing it, finally giving a steady supply to the demands.

Although China hasn’t decided to follow that route and decided to stay their current course and control and limit the Cannabis production, according to recent reports, China can and still has an open market of $4.4 Billion for the taking.

This prediction came to be due to the region of China providing a favorable climate for the production and growth of Hemp. Above that, China has a recorded history of hemp cultivation and topping it off with the population advantage, China has become the go-to source of Cannabidiol (CBD, a non-psychoactive substance present in hemp and cannabis) for the western world.

We have talked about how studies showed that the world is growing to have a $20 Billion Dollar market by 2024.  With a prospective market of $4.4 Billion, China may as well be able to take a big bite out of that share (around 22%). While Asia-Pacific countries like New Zealand begins to see this potential, China has yet to take action to legalize Hemp production.

China is still adhering to its limit of 0.3% THC in any medical products just like Europe. Even though the substance has shown significant results among the users of the substance for curative uses, the Chinese government is still strict about their laws concerning Cannabis production. Of course, we cannot totally disregard their concern about the possibility of substance abuse, but overlooking the possible benefits it can bring might opt this nation out of the $4.4 Billion-dollar market as well as the major health benefits it may bring.

If we look at the market patterns, we would have a strong reason to believe that the clinical evidence of its benefits, the world-wide acceptance of the substance and the economic possibilities may as well change the government’s stance in the future. But whether or not these winds of change can occur before the opportunity expires, still remains to be seen. Regardless, China is already being considered as a Cannabis Superpower despite their inactive participation in the production.

Even though the restrictions, the cultivation of this “green gold” is still going on in different provinces of China. According to the farmers, the production is bringing them about 1550 USD per hectare of the farmable land. With all that “real estate” up for grabs, the answer to “should China capitalize on the $4.4 Billion markets?” seems to be an easy one to answer. But whether or not the Chinese government really chooses to capitalize on this opportunity or not still remains to be seen. But one thing is certain if this cannabis superpower intends to enter the competition, the $20 Billion markets by 2024 prediction would be realized without a shred of doubt.