Linking Industrial Ecosystem: Guangzhou Medical Expo Builds a Full-Chain Innovation ExhibitionPlatformAt a crucial stage when China's biopharmaceutical industry is moving towards high-quality development, building an efficient and collaborative industrial ecosystem has become particularly important. As a core city of the biopharmaceutical industry in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Guangzhou is actively playing its leading role. To further promote the in-depth integration of medical care, health, and industry, and systematically present an innovative ecosystem of coordinated development, the Guangzhou Medical Expo will build a full-chain innovation exhibition platform for Guangzhou's biopharmaceutical industry and medical and health sector. The construction of this platform not only reflects Guangzhou's ambition to build a global biopharmaceutical highland but also perfectly echoes the national-level policy signals released recently.

The national strategic status of the biopharmaceutical industry is being further elevated.In this year's Government Work Report delivered at the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, biopharmaceuticals were explicitly listed as a national-level "emerging pillar industry", alongside integrated circuits, aerospace, low-altitude economy, and other sectors. This marks the first time that the development of the biopharmaceutical industry has been proposed with the positioning of a pillar industry in the Government Work Report, releasing an important policy signal to accelerate industrial upgrading. Behind this statement lies the solid foundation of the rapid rise of China's biopharmaceutical industry in recent years. With the continuous advancement of the review and approval system reform, the growing capacity for innovative drug research and development, and the deepening of international cooperation, China's pharmaceutical industry is gradually transitioning from a generic drug-dominated development phase to a new era led by original innovation. The latest data from regulatory authorities shows that 76 innovative drugs were approved for marketing in China in 2025, a record high; meanwhile, the value of China's innovative drug out-licensing transactions (Business Development, BD) exceeded 130 billion US dollars for the first time in 2025, setting a major record in the global pharmaceutical industry. The industry generally believes that with the superposition of policy signals and the continuous release of industrial innovation capabilities, China's biopharmaceutical industry is entering a new cycle of high-quality development and is gradually becoming an important participant in the global pharmaceutical innovation system.

Innovation Capability Rising Steadily: China's Innovative Drug R&D Enters a Period of Intensive Achievements

Over the past decade, China's biopharmaceutical industry has undergone a profound institutional transformation and industrial upgrading. At the two sessions, the Premier stated in the Government Work Report: Over the past year, China's development has moved forward and improved, demonstrating vigorous vitality. New quality productive forces have developed steadily, with fruitful scientific and technological innovation achievements. Research and development as well as application of artificial intelligence, biopharmaceuticals, robotics, quantum technology, and other fields have led the world, and breakthroughs have been made in independent R&D of chips. Notably, this is the first time the biopharmaceutical industry has been designated as a national-level "emerging pillar industry". Since the launch of the drug review and approval system reform in 2015, China has gradually established an innovative drug regulatory system, including priority review and approval, conditional approval, breakthrough therapy designation, and the application of real-world evidence. This has significantly accelerated the speed of new drug marketing and strongly stimulated the innovation vitality of enterprises. Meanwhile, the scale of China's biopharmaceutical industry has continued to expand. Data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that in 2025, the scale of China's pharmaceutical industry ranked second in the world. Among them, high-tech segments such as biopharmaceuticals and innovative drugs have achieved particularly significant growth. With the continuous improvement of the innovation system, China has gradually become an important hub for global pharmaceutical R&D. Statistics from international pharmaceutical R&D institutions indicate that the number of ongoing clinical trials of drugs in China has remained among the highest in the world in recent years, accounting for approximately 25% to 30% of the global total. Driven by the coordination of R&D, manufacturing, and clinical resources, China has formed a complete pharmaceutical industry chain covering drug discovery, clinical research, large-scale production, and commercial promotion.

The enhancement of innovation capabilities is also reflected in the sustained growth of R&D investment. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that R&D investment in China's pharmaceutical manufacturing industry has maintained double-digit growth in recent years, exceeding 100 billion yuan in 2023. At the same time, China's position in the global innovative drug R&D landscape has been continuously rising. Industry statistics show that the number of China's innovative drug pipelines in R&D currently accounts for about 30% of the global total, ranking second in the world, only after the United States. Data from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) shows that among the 76 innovative drugs approved for marketing by the NMPA in 2025, there were 47 chemical drugs, 23 biological products, and 6 traditional Chinese medicines. Among the chemical drugs, 38 were domestically developed innovative drugs, accounting for 80.85%; among the biological products, 21 were domestically developed innovative drugs, accounting for 91.30%. Domestically developed innovative drugs have become the main force in the launch of new innovative drugs. A responsible person from the NMPA previously stated to the public that First-in-Class innovative drugs with completely new therapeutic mechanisms are the most difficult to develop. In 2025, 11 First-in-Class innovative drugs were approved in China, 4 of which were independently developed by Chinese enterprises. "The launch of these innovative drugs in China allows patients to access the world's latest treatment methods earlier, marking China's leap from catching up to running alongside and even leading in some areas in the biopharmaceutical field," said Lan Gongtao, Deputy Director of the Department of Drug Registration Management of the NMPA, at a relevant conference held in January. In terms of technological directions, Chinese enterprises have gradually established competitiveness in multiple cutting-edge fields, including cancer immunotherapy, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), bispecific antibodies, and RNA therapeutics. Enterprises such as Hengrui Medicine (600276.SH), BeiGene (688235.SH), Innovent Biologics (01801.HK), and Akeso (09926.HK) have formed stronger synergistic support.

"In recent years, China's biopharmaceutical industry has gradually demonstrated competitive advantages in innovative R&D and international cooperation, with some innovative drug assets gaining recognition from multinational pharmaceutical companies in the global market. It is precisely after seeing the potential competitiveness of Chinese enterprises in the global pharmaceutical industry chain that the government hopes to further cultivate the industrial ecosystem and promote the overall competitiveness of Chinese biopharmaceutical enterprises," said Yang Tao, a senior executive of a listed biopharmaceutical company and an expert in the pharmaceutical industry. He added that the development of China's biopharmaceutical industry is closely linked to national strategies, especially the goals set out in the "Healthy China 2030" Plan, which puts forward clear requirements for the long-term development of the industry. China has become a global leader in energy storage batteries, new energy, photovoltaic, and new energy vehicles. However, in the biopharmaceutical sector, "we are now 'running alongside' others, and our goal is to gradually move towards 'leading the way', which is crucial for enhancing China's voice and competitiveness in the global pharmaceutical industry chain," emphasized Yang Tao. Biopharmaceuticals are not only an industrial issue but also a livelihood concern and an important part of national strategic security. "China has always emphasized keeping the rice bowl in its own hands and ensuring food self-sufficiency. Similarly, medicines are a key area related to people's health. We hope to take the health of the Chinese people into our own hands through innovation capabilities and industrial upgrading. From a global perspective, China has not yet reached the world's leading level in chips, integrated circuits, and aerospace, and the pharmaceutical industry has not yet become the world's number one either. Therefore, listing biopharmaceuticals as an 'emerging pillar industry' in this year's two sessions is based on multiple considerations, including elevating the industry's strategic status, fostering global competitiveness, and safeguarding national health security."

Several other industry insiders told reporters that after more than a decade of continuous investment, China's innovative drug industry is entering a period of concentrated release of results. From the number of R&D pipelines to the quality of clinical research and commercialization capabilities, the innovation foundation of China's pharmaceutical industry is being continuously consolidated.

Accelerated Global Expansion of Innovative Drugs: China's Biopharmaceutical Industry's International Influence Continues to Grow

If the improvement of innovation capabilities has laid the foundation for China's biopharmaceutical industry, the growing popularity of innovative drug BD transactions in recent years has become an important symbol of the rapid enhancement of China's pharmaceutical industry's global influence. At a forum on supporting the global expansion of Chinese pharmaceuticals and medical devices held by the National Healthcare Security Administration, Zhou Le, Deputy Director of the Department of Drug Supervision and Administration of the NMPA, stated that international cooperation on innovative drugs in China has continued to heat up in recent years. Data shows that the total amount of China's innovative drug out-licensing BD transactions exceeded 130 billion US dollars in 2025, a record high. Regulatory authorities pointed out that this change reflects the recognition of Chinese innovative drug R&D capabilities by international pharmaceutical enterprises and indicates that China is becoming an important source of innovative drug assets in the global market. In recent years, several representative cross-border cooperation projects have emerged. For example, last year, 3SBio (01530.HK) reached a global licensing cooperation with Pfizer on the PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody SSGJ-707, with a maximum total transaction value of 6 billion US dollars; AstraZeneca and CSPC Pharmaceutical Group (01093.HK) reached a cooperation on the weight loss and metabolic drug pipeline with a potential total value exceeding 13 billion US dollars; shortly after the start of this year, Sino Biopharm (01177.HK) licensed rovaxitinib to Sanofi, with a maximum total transaction value of approximately 1.5 billion US dollars, setting the largest out-licensing transaction record for Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises in the transplantation field. Such cooperation is becoming an important trend in the global pharmaceutical industry. Multinational pharmaceutical companies are increasingly seeking innovative assets from China to supplement their own R&D pipelines.

Dr. Zou Jianjun, General Manager and CEO of Junshi Biosciences (688180.SH), previously told reporters that 2026 may become a critical year when three major inflection points converge in the industry: first, the drugs approved intensively from 2023 to 2025 will enter a stage of sales surge, enabling enterprises to achieve further breakthroughs in revenue growth; second, the overseas revenue of domestic innovative drugs will rise significantly, with active participation in international competition; third, economies of scale and payment optimization will drive the upgrading of the industry's overall profit model. In fact, the model of China's innovative drug global expansion is also evolving. In the early stage, Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises mostly achieved technology export through single-product License-out; in recent years, more and more cooperation projects have extended to deeper models such as joint R&D, global clinical development, and regional commercialization. Some enterprises have even begun to explore independent commercialization paths in European and American markets.

In the view of Zhao Heng, one of the important directions of policy support in the next stage is to help Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises enhance their globalization capabilities. "In the future, we should not only encourage enterprises to carry out innovative R&D but also provide more institutional and platform support for their global expansion, such as building a platform for the global expansion of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, promoting the improvement of cross-border clinical and registration coordination mechanisms, and helping enterprises establish more mature global commercialization capabilities," Zhao Heng told reporters. With the continuous enhancement of R&D capabilities and the gradual expansion of international cooperation channels, China's biopharmaceutical industry is expected to gradually move from being dominated by "innovative drug asset export" to a new stage of multi-dimensional participation in global competition in R&D, clinical research, and commercialization. "In the long run, China is expected to grow into one of the world's important sources of innovative drugs."

Source: Business Observer Magazine