Photo/Shetuwang

Feb. 18 (NBD) -- Sitting in a chamber, people now can have a breath of fresh air from the Chinese Changbai Mountains, French Alps, Japanese Mount Fuji and other mountains and forests across the globe, thanks to a growing number of companies collecting and bottling fresh countryside air.

The industrial chain of the "air selling" business, which includes air collecting, bottling, shipping and distributing, is taking shape at a fast pace, and the canned air is sold for the purposes of rehabilitation therapy as well as beauty and health care, according to news outlet Yicai.

On Sunday, Take Deep Breath Intelligent Creation Technology (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. ("TDB") launched its smart oxygen chamber which provides fresh air supplied by Shanghai-listed Jilin Forest Industry ("Jilin Forest", 600189.SH).

TDB in 2017 entered into a strategic agreement with Jilin Forest which developed China's first filling line of forest air in 2010. Air collected in the region of the Changbai Mountains is canned and shipped to TDB's service centers in Tianjin, Beijing and Shenzhen, according to Zhang Kai, TDB's operation director.

Liu Wenjie, founder and CEO of TDB, said to Yicai that there lie strong demands for physiotherapy chambers in the cosmetic medicine market in China but the corresponding products at present remain to be developed.

Hyperbaric oxygen chambers, in fact, have been used in the medical area for several decades, and TDB, by making some adjustments such as lowering the pressure in the chamber, is applying the technology into residential areas, Zhang said.

With regard to the business model of air selling, Zhang noted that his company adopts the structure of "operator + hospital" where the operator provides physiotherapy chambers and shares gains with hospitals that furnish sites.

TDB has reached the intention of cooperation with five hospitals and each hospital will be equipped with 20 physiotherapy chambers. "Assuming that every chamber is used 12 times a day at a price of 55 yuan (8.1 U.S. dollars) each time, the annual income for each chamber will be 198,000 yuan (29,264.4 U.S. dollars) on the basis of 25 days per month. Deducting various business expenses, each set of equipments can yield 160,000 yuan (23,648.0 U.S. dollars) in profits for a year," Zhang analyzed, adding that it takes less than two years to recoup the costs of buying the equipment.

The Changhai Mountains is not the only natural oxygen collection field for air sellers. A group of companies are also collecting fresh air in old-growth forests in China's tropical island Hainan.

Behind enterprises' enthusiasm in the air-selling business lie consumers' concerns over air quality and needs for clean air. Some research showed that each year, indoor air pollution in China causes as many as 111,000 deaths, 220,000 outpatient visits and 4.3 million emergency visits.

Zhou Xin, director of the Second Pneumology Department of the First Hospital of Qiqihaer City, told Yicai that enough fresh air supply keeps people energetic and air with high concentration of negative ions is beneficial for people's lungs, spirits, moods and memories. The oxygen therapy can play an indispensable role in treating patients with chronic diseases, sub-healthy population and specific groups, Zhou added.

Email: gaohan@nbd.com.cn