China's e-commerce businesses are expanding intopharmaceuticals as the government directsprescription drug sales away from hospitals andinto retail outlets.

随着政府将处方药销售从医院向零售渠道引导，我国电子商务正在向医药业扩张。

The online pharmacy business has grown fromvirtually nothing five years ago to more than 7 billionyuan (1.1 billion U.S. dollars) in 2014, accounting for3 percent of all retail medicine sales, BostonConsulting Group (BCG) said in a report lastThursday.

波士顿咨询公司上周四在一份报告中表示，我国医药电商的零售销售额从5年前的几乎为零增长到2014年的70多亿元(折合11亿美元)，占我国药品零售市场总额的3%。

The boom may be only a prelude to explosive growth to come, provided that authoritiesallow online pharmacies to sell prescription drugs. Thus far, sales consist mainly of over-the-counter medicine, with very slim margins.

如果相关部门允许医药电商销售处方药，那么上述增长可能只是拉开了医药电商爆发式增长的序幕。到目前为止，销售主要是非处方药，利润率非常低。

One of the key themes of the ongoing reform of the medical system is to wean hospitals offthe revenue that comes from drug sales, allowing patients to choose between hospitals andretail pharmacies. If online sales of prescription drugs are permitted, firms such as Alibabaand JD.com are sure to get involved.

正在进行的医疗体制改革的主题之一就是减少医院来自药品销售的收入，这样可以使得病人在医院和零售药店之间能够做出选择。如果允许在网上销售处方药，那么像阿里巴巴、京东等电商公司肯定会参与其中。

"The e-pharmacy business is changing very quickly in China with new regulations and differentcompetitors entering the space," said John Wong, a BCG partner, but whether that pacecontinues is far from certain.

波士顿咨询公司医药业合作伙伴黄培杰说：“随着医药业新规颁布、不同竞争者入行，中国医药电商将快速转型。”不过他也表示，这种转型能不能一直持续下去，现在仍是一个很大的未知数。