Chinese drug companies help secure global drug supply

"While 2020 is full of challenges, it reinforces the flexibility of the Chinese pharmaceutical supply chain and brings with it many new opportunities for change and collaboration." Adam Andersen, Group Brand Director at Informa Markets, expressed his high recognition of the Chinese pharma industry and its importance in the global supply chain.

Foreign trade data for western pharmaceuticals in the first half of this year confirmed his view. Data provided by the Medical Insurance Chamber of Commerce show that China has played an active role in ensuring the supply of global drugs. The U.S. is China's top trading country for western drug exports, and China's exports to its three major categories of APIs, western patent medicines, and biochemicals and biological products have all grown significantly.

Specifically in terms of export categories, in the first half of 2020, China's export volume of western APIs was 5.662 million tons, an increase of 11.75% year-on-year, and the export value was $18.429 billion, an increase of 6.85% year-on-year. Among them, the export growth of anti-epidemic related products was remarkable, and the export volume of antiviral and anti-infective APIs increased sharply year-on-year.

The export value of western patent medicine was US$2.42 billion, up 22.75% year-on-year, with anti-infection drugs as the main export category. China's exports of western patent medicines to both the US and the EU achieved significant growth, with exports to the US reaching US$367 million, nearly doubling year-on-year, and exports to the EU reaching US$550 million, up 26% year-on-year.

Exports of biochemicals and biological products reached US$2.79 billion, up 66.45% year-on-year. Among them, the export value of immunological products, mainly coronavirus testing reagents, exceeded 1.15 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of nearly 10 times year-on-year.

In terms of import categories, the import of raw materials was US$4.941 billion, down 13.09 per cent year-on-year; the import of biochemical drugs and biological products was US$6.341 billion, up 6.99 per cent year-on-year; and the import of western patent medicines was US$10.77 billion, up 16.31 per cent year-on-year.