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Alice Li

Thanks to an efficiency edge that transcends simple cost advantages, China is set to see the emergence of a home-grown drug giant capable of competing with global players in a decade, analysts say.
“For the past three decades, there was only one global research and development ecosystem, which was the US,” said Fu Wei, founder and CEO of CBC Group, a healthcare-dedicated asset management firm founded in Shanghai and now based in Singapore.
“Over the past decade, a parallel ecosystem – China – has emerged. We are not only more cost-efficient, but also faster [in drug innovation], and its edge is irreversible,” he said during a panel discussion at the Global Health Summit in Hong Kong on Friday.
“Ten years from now, we will definitely see a Chinese Big Pharma emerging in its home market.”
However, Fu said that building a globally competitive pharmaceutical powerhouse with Chinese roots will be a long-term process.
“The biopharma industry – unlike other industries – requires years of regulatory approvals, deep product pipelines with hundreds of new drugs, and next-generation technologies before companies can achieve a meaningful market impact,” Fu said.
Once this vision materialised, it would mark a significant change from the current landscape, where China’s innovative drug market remains dominated by foreign multinationals, Fu said, pointing to AstraZeneca as an example. The Swedish-British company’s innovative drug sales in China surpass those of local leader Hengrui Pharma, he noted.
Once known primarily for low-margin generic manufacturing, China’s pharmaceutical sector has undergone a wave of innovation. This transformation has been reflected in a surge of out-licensing deals for innovative drugs, with their total value reaching a record US$110 billion in the first half of this year, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Currently, China accounts for roughly 30 per cent of the world’s novel drugs under development, ranking second globally, CCTV said.
It was only over the past two to three years, as the West saw these out-licensing deals, that they finally realised how fast China’s biotech sector had grown
Iris Wang, TruMed
Iris Wang, founding partner and chief investment officer at Hong Kong-based TruMed Investment, noted that China’s biotech sector is expanding at a pace that has caught the market off guard.
“It was only over the past two to three years, as the West saw these out-licensing deals, that they finally realised how fast China’s biotech sector had grown,” Wang said.
“They undervalued our pace of innovation.”
Wang noted that China’s biotech boom is rooted in systemic efficiency – built on infrastructure, policy support, and a deep talent pool – making it difficult to replicate elsewhere in the near term.
With biopharmaceuticals designated an emerging pillar industry alongside integrated circuits, aerospace and others in its latest five-year plan, Beijing has pledged to deepen its support for the sector.
In a blueprint for China’s healthcare development over the next five years released by the State Council in July, authorities have committed to providing full-chain support for drug innovation, while pledging faster regulatory approvals for critical therapies and improved clinical evaluation frameworks to boost hospital adoption.
Wang said she anticipated sustained momentum for Chinese drug innovators, noting that China’s systemic efficiency is well positioned to drive breakthroughs in frontier domains such as AI-driven drug development.
“Some mistakenly assume that because the US leads in AI, it will naturally dominate biotech in the future,” Wang said. “But in drug discovery, AI models alone are not enough. What truly matters is whether that computational power can be converted into data validated in the lab, and ultimately, validated in clinical trials.
“Pioneering in AI drug discovery right now requires systemic leadership across AI, biology, and lab operations,” she said. “China is building a whole new paradigm here, giving the country advantages to take the lead in the next phase of drug innovation.”


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Amid systemic efficiency and a wave of innovation, the country’s biotech sector is expanding at a pace that has caught the market off guard


Amid systemic efficiency and a wave of innovation, the country’s biotech sector is expanding at a pace that has caught the market off guard.


China set to compete with global drug giants in a decade, analysts say

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Amid systemic efficiency and a wave of innovation, the country’s biotech sector is expanding at a pace that has caught the market off guard

Amid systemic efficiency and a wave of innovation, the country’s biotech sector is expanding at a pace that has caught the market off guard