James Kynge

So T.L.

Huang was there, I think, for 28 days, I believe.

And...

She had a pretty intensive schedule, 7.30 a.m.

wake-up calls, weigh-ins, and then she had hours of spinning, boxing, and HIIT sessions.

And after she'd been in the weight loss camp for about 14 days, she'd lost about four kilos in total.

That's about nine pounds.

And she paid $1,500 for the privilege of undergoing all of this.

What did you think of it, Alice?

I mean, were you moved by her plight?

Yeah, absolutely.

I've got a prediction on that coming up for a bit later, Alice, but you're so right to focus on these Chinese variants of Zempik, the slimming drugs.

I found a projection that by 2030, the Chinese market for these GLP-1s or these anti-obesity drugs

could reach about 14 billion US dollars in sales annually.

So we're talking, as you just said, a massive commercial market there that's just getting underway.

There is also one angle to this which might surprise listeners, and that is that not only humans in China, but also pets are

are perhaps going to be receiving these slimming drugs.

Indeed, a unit of Huadong Medicine received acceptance notices from Chinese regulators for veterinary drug registration applications that target weight management.

And these are apparently going to be given to cats.

And there's a rather touching story in the South China Morning Post about Irina Zhou and her five-year-old cat.