China Becomes Second Largest Medicine Consumer as Drug Exports Top USD13.5 Billion
Ma Xiaohua
DATE:  Jul 14 2017
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
China Becomes Second Largest Medicine Consumer as Drug Exports Top USD13.5 Billion China Becomes Second Largest Medicine Consumer as Drug Exports Top USD13.5 Billion

(Yicai Global) July 14 -- China's pharmaceutical market has continued to grow over the years to become the second largest in the world today.

The country is also the number one exporter of crude drugs in the world.

The US is the world's largest medicine market, The Motley Fool reported in 2015.

China is home to nearly 5,000 crude drug producers and preparation companies, said Wu Zhen, deputy head of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), adding that the pharmaceutical industry logs more than CNY2.5 trillion (USD367.6 billion) in core business revenues a year, making it one of the few economic sectors that outpace the national gross domestic product growth. Some 50 crude preparation producers have obtained certification or passed tests by European or American authorities, and Chinese pharmaceutical exports exceeded USD13.5 billion, meaning that Chinese pharmaceutical companies are now capable of supplying safe and reliable products to the West.

 "With a total population of around 4.4 billion, countries along the 'One Belt, One Road' are mostly emerging or developing economies, and they provide our medical and health companies with an enormous market for multi-lateral and bilateral cooperation, as well as imposing more demanding requirements on drug safety and regulation international cooperation," Wu added.

 Last year, SDFA conducted on-site inspections on imported drugs in the countries of origin, covering 15 product categories and 19 countries. International cooperation concerning drug safety and regulation has been significantly improved as a result.

Furthermore, SDFA took effective measures to push forward drug evaluation and approval reforms, and the drug approval process has been effectively shortened.

However, Wu pointed out, there is still plenty of room for improvement in terms of satisfying the public's urgent needs for disease prevention and treatment and health care services.

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Keywords:   Medicine, Data, Health, International, Enterprise, Innovation