An interview with Mr. Mu Hualun, CEO of Nanobubble Co., Ltd
In recent years, hydrogen therapy has drawn more and more attention in China’s big health field. Not long ago, hydrogen/oxygen mixed gas inhalation was officially suggested as a method for treating patients with Coronavirus disease. Research proves that hydrogen molecule features great biological effects to combat free radicals, inflammation and apoptosis. It is also proven that hydrogen therapy can cure and prevent a number of different diseases.
Nanobubble Co., Ltd is the only company in China that manufactures hydrogen therapy equipment and devices. The team’s vision is to not only provide advanced hydrogen therapy equipment to medical institutions, but also let ordinary people benefit from the therapy in their daily life. Since its foundation, the company has been dedicated to improving people’s health and driving the development of health industry. Mr. Mu Hualun, the CEO of Nanobubble, is currently engaged in the application and promotion of high-tech industrialization and transformation at Zhangjiang Pharmaceutical Valley in Shanghai. He focuses on the frontier progress of physics, material science and life science. He looks particularly at the intervention of non-communicable chronic diseases, accurate medical treatments and effective health management schemes and implementation. SpaChina interviewed him.
How many years have you been in the industry and what kind of work are you engaged in?
Compared with many professionals, I have a relatively short time in the industry. So far, I have been involved in product development for eight years. If you ask me what kind of work I am engaged in, I feel it’s difficult to give a single answer. Maybe just one month ago, I thought I was a manufacturer of equipment and I felt I had won a battle in a brand new area and spearheaded its development. But with an increasing interaction with clients, I realized I was playing the role of offering services to the public and working for the better life of people. This is a role that I am more willing to take up. My work also involves skin management since we also provide interventions for skin management with our products and devices. In a word, all for “wellness”. This is the goal of our company and myself – working for the wellness of people by improving their lifestyles.
From your business’ perspective, do you see a huge need for health enhancement among Chinese people?
Yes, the need is huge, especially after the pandemic and a consumption upgrade. Our business mainly covers three aspects: big health, consumption upgrade and innovative technology. This year, when the service industry has been severely hit, we still realize a 50% business increase. The number is not satisfying, but at least we keep increasing even during this difficult time. It demonstrates that as long as you can capture and meet the needs of the market – the need for health products – then you will naturally reap the reward.
In addition, the increasing need for health enhancement is also generated by today’s age structure, which augments people’s concerns to their health and lifestyle. When people have some discomforts or minor illness, they may not immediately rush to the public hospitals. Instead, they seek some more convenient ways. During this process, to gain customers’ trust is the most important thing. That’s why we attach great importance to the brand’s image or word of mouth. I am convinced that once we find the true needs of the customers and provide them with truly valuable products, business growth is a sure consequence.
As China is entering an “aging society” era, there is a requirement for more effective and labor-free health management approaches. I know your hydrogen therapy equipment have received big orders from medical beauty experts and senior care institutions in UK. Could you share with us more of such cases?
Our team is composed of senior engineers. So we are always confident of our products’ quality. We also pay attention to international cooperations. We joined hands with London Dr. Michael Prager Skincare Clinic to work on postoperative skin recovery of medical beauty treatments. We do medical programs together with Prof. Shigeo Ohta, the “father of hydrogen health”, from Japan. Prof. Ohta is specialized in the study of Alzheimer’s disease and has so far achieved quite good results. He chooses our equipment to do his study in Japan. We also do third-party tests in US and the client wants to become our distributor in US. I firmly believe that as long as your products are good and valuable, they will surely be recognized sooner or later.
Concerning our domestic endeavors, I agree with the concept of “precise positioning”. Hydrogen therapy falls in the category of health management rather than medical cure. Nevertheless, hydrogen/oxygen mixed gas inhalation was officially suggested this July as a method to treat COVID-19. This is a reasonable trial in the face of the crisis. It’s a good chance to let more people know the effects of hydrogen therapy. Meanwhile, we actively support clinical research. Hydrogen therapy has showed quite satisfactory results in treating early and mid-phase coronavirus patients, equal and even better than the effects delivered by Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Surely, we are doing a lot of work in the field of evidence-based medicine, but we clearly understand that our goal is to integrate hydrogen therapy into a wider daily life scene, to concretely help numerous people who suffer sub-health conditions and chronic diseases. For this reason, we have established a community health program with the China Health Promotion Foundation. We enter into the community quarters and provide hydrogen interventions to patients of Type II Diabetes. The result is very encouraging. Two months of hydrogen inhalation and drinking hydrogen water result in obvious improvement of the saccharification system. In terms of skincare, we do several cooperative studies with the dermatology department of Huashan Hospital. The studies prove that hydrogen therapy can alleviate a variety of skin problems and diseases.
What health trends can you see among Chinese people in the next two to five years?
I think health guidance and health services accessible to ordinary residents will be a significant future trend.
I once had a 4-hour talk with some personnel from the government. He said to me: “What you want to do is what the government also wants to do concerning big health. We have tried many different ways and made many new policies in order to solve the problem. But the patients’ number haven’t decreased. Medical budget control fails to solve the problems triggered by the aging population structure.” So I think in the future health intervention process, the core is that it must be accessible to the ordinary residents. Volkswagen has purchased Porsche, not vice versa. Our health management and service should also come down to every ordinary resident.
In fact, the government has already taken actions. Every residential area now has its own community police and doctors. However, their true functions haven’t been given play to. I believe the situation will be improved if hydrogen therapy is introduced to the community health service. The community doctors then will be able to give more effective health guidance and practical solutions to the residents with the knowledge and equipment of hydrogen therapy.