China's pharmaceutical exports to Brazil increase by 197% in 2020

According to global customs statistics, in 2020, China's drug exports to Brazil were US$449 million, a significant year-on-year increase of 197.35%, making it the fifth largest source of drug imports in Brazil. With the global pharmaceutical trade being impacted by the epidemic, China's pharmaceutical exports can maintain a good situation, mainly due to China's fastest control of the spread of the epidemic, stable domestic production capacity and overseas supply chains that have been blocked by the epidemic In sharp contrast, the transfer of some overseas orders to China also provided support for our exports.

Brazil and China, India, Russia, Turkey, and Mexico are the main emerging pharmaceutical markets. At the same time, according to the annual market size, Brazil became the seventh largest pharmaceutical market in the world in 2018, and Brazil is expected to become the fifth largest pharmaceutical market in the world by 2023.

It is estimated that by 2023, the Brazilian pharmaceutical market will reach 39-43 billion U.S. dollars, with a compound growth rate of about 5-8% in 2019-2023. Unlike the Chinese market, the market size of Brazil’s original research drugs is only more than 20%, but the number accounts for less than 5%. Generic brand drugs and generic generic drugs account for about 20% of the market share. In addition, OTC drugs The market potential is huge. Affected by the price reduction of control fees, the market growth rate of generic generic drugs is expected to be slightly higher than that of the original research and generic brand drugs.

The main factor for its market growth is the change in the demographic structure. The increase in the elderly population will lead to an increase in chronic diseases and lifestyle-related diseases. Coupled with the advancement of comprehensive medical treatment and medical technology, the demand for medical services may increase. The Brazilian pharmaceutical market mainly relies on imports, and the biotechnology part highly relies on imported raw materials and generic APIs.

In the past two years, Brazil’s economy has recovered, market vitality has increased, and China’s economy has been steadily improving, achieving steady and healthy development, which is conducive to the further growth of bilateral trade. Brazil's anti-corruption "car wash action" has made it difficult for a large number of Brazilian companies to survive, and they have sold assets to foreign investors, providing an unprecedented historical opportunity for Chinese companies to enter the Brazilian market. The Brazilian government is vigorously promoting privatization, and there is huge demand and expectation for me. my country is vigorously advancing the construction of the "Belt and Road", linking up with Brazil's "Investment Partnership Program" and "Advance Plan" to promote regional interconnection and linkage development, which will open up a broader world and bring more opportunities for China-Brazil cooperation.

Brazil has a vast territory, rich resources, the largest economic scale and market size in Latin America, and has great development potential; Brazil's multi-ethnic characteristics determine that its people can accept foreigners with different customs and get along with each other friendly, with little xenophobia or racial discrimination; Foreign wholly-owned or joint ventures in Brazil enjoy national treatment; Brazilian states have the right to formulate incentive policies that are conducive to local development and the introduction of foreign investment, and certain local tax reduction and exemption policies for foreign companies include free land transfer; privatization and launch of "investment “Partnership Program” encourages foreign franchise operations and does not nationalize foreign capital; foreign capital entering Brazil does not require central bank approval, but only requires declarative registration with the central bank (Registro Declaratório); foreign profits are exempt from source income tax (IRRF/IRF); as long as they are registered with the central bank Except for the loss, the original foreign country cannot be withdrawn, and the distribution and remittance of foreign capital gains are not restricted.

At present, Brazil's western medicine raw materials are highly dependent on imports. From the trend in recent years, it can be seen that Brazil's western medicine raw materials imported from China have maintained a relatively stable growth momentum.

In addition, the Brazilian medical market's demand for equipment updates and consumables consumption can be considered as China's exports to Brazil's medical device industry will achieve further growth in the next three to five years. Chinese companies should see this gap in supply and demand and actively enter the field of medical devices in the Brazilian market.