Pharmaceutical trade rebounded strongly, import and export hit a record high

Overall situation

On the basis of the total increase in imports and exports in 2018 and the negative increase in imports, the imports, exports, and imports and exports of China's pharmaceutical and health products have increased significantly in 2019, reaching the highest level since 2011, and the trade surplus has dropped to a historically low value. Almost balanced.

Europe, Asia, and North America are the top three partners in China's pharmaceutical trade, with imports and exports of US $ 59.96 billion, US $ 44.548 billion, and US $ 27.645 billion, respectively, with the top three markets accounting for 90.74%. In terms of countries, the United States is still the largest trading partner of Chinese pharmaceutical products, with an import and export volume of US $ 25.857 billion, an increase of 17.89%. Sino-US trade frictions have not caused significant impact. The countries ranked second to fifth are Germany, Japan, and India. ,Ireland.

IQVIA data shows that global drug spending will maintain a growth rate of about 5% in 2018-2023, and 2019 is expected to cost 1.3 trillion US dollars. The application of innovative drugs in developed markets, the expansion of market access and use of emerging market medicines, and the continuous improvement of the medical and health systems of countries around the world have promoted the continuous development of the global pharmaceutical market; the Chinese pharmaceutical market has entered an era of great changes, and the consistency evaluation of generic drugs continues to deepen , Procurement with volume spread nationwide, a new round of national medical insurance negotiations completed, DRG payment reform deepened, the new version of the "Drug Management Law" and the implementation of the world's first comprehensive "Vaccine Management Law", encouraging the comprehensive implementation of innovative review and approval systems All are accelerating the industry reshuffle, innovation and internationalization have become inevitable choices for enterprises; and a series of policies and measures such as national stabilization of foreign trade, stabilization of foreign investment, promotion fees, tax reduction and exemption, etc. have also prompted the growth of pharmaceutical foreign trade against the trend.

Export situation

In 2019, China's exports of western medicine products accounted for 55.68%, medical equipment accounted for 38.88%, and Chinese medicine accounted for 5.44%. The export of Western medicine and medical equipment products achieved double-digit growth.

From the perspective of export destinations, Asia, Europe and North America are the top three export regions, accounting for 87.32% of the total; the United States, India, Japan, Germany, and South Korea are still the top five exporters of medical and health products in China, accounting for 43.95% of the total . Among them, US exports to the largest market were US $ 13.497 billion, an increase of 10.73%, accounting for 18.28%.

(1) Chinese medicine

In 2019, the export of Chinese medicine products was US $ 4.019 billion, an increase of 2.82%. The export of Chinese medicinal materials and decoction pieces was US $ 1.137 billion, an increase of 10.32%; the export of Plant Extracts was US $ 2.372 billion, a slight increase of 0.19%; the export of Chinese patent medicine was US $ 263 million, a decrease of 0.45%; the export of health products was US $ 247 million, a slight increase of 0.21%.

The United States, Japan, and Hong Kong are still the top three export markets for traditional Chinese medicine products, but they have experienced negative growth of 16.1%, 0.78%, and 5.34%, respectively. Among the top ten export markets, Vietnam, India, Malaysia, Taiwan, and South Korea The increase reached double digits. The major decline in the export of Chinese medicine products to the United States is mainly due to the Sino-US trade friction. The Chinese medicine products exported to the United States are mainly plant extracts, accounting for 80.71%.

(2) Western medicine

In 2019, the export of western medicine products was 41.109 billion US dollars, an increase of 11.46%. Asia, Europe, and North America are the top three export markets; India, the United States, and Japan are the top three exporters, of which exports to India have increased significantly by 25.88%, and exports to the United States and Japan have increased by 1.98% and 7.27%, respectively.

In terms of specific products, the export of bulk drugs was 33.683 billion US dollars, an increase of 12.1%, accounting for 45.62% of China's total exports of medical and health products. Anti-infectives, hormones, cardiovascular system medications, respiratory system medications, Antipyretic Analgesics, lincomycin have achieved a large increase; vitamins, aminoglycosides, penicillins, central nervous system medications, digestion System medicines, Chloramphenicol, etc. declined in different ranges; the export of newly-encoded anti-cancer drugs APIs was US $ 97 million.

India is still China's largest exporter of bulk pharmaceuticals, with exports of US $ 5.653 billion, accounting for 16.78% and an increase of 25.53%, showing that China's bulk pharmaceutical industry occupies a stable upstream position in the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Of the top ten markets for API exports, only the second-ranked US exports showed a negative growth of 1.23%.

The export of preparations was 4.109 billion US dollars, a slight increase of 0.23%. The EU, Africa and the United States were the top three export markets, and exports to the EU fell by 16.43%. At the same time, Australia, which ranked second among exporting countries, fell by 22.23%. The performance of local preparation exporting companies in 2019 was mixed. The export of preparations by companies such as Ruiyang Pharmaceutical, Sinopharm Wichida, Shandong New Times, Zhuhai Federation, Nantong Lianya and other enterprises increased significantly. The newly-encoded anti-cancer drug export was US $ 156 million.

The export of biochemical drugs was 3.316 billion US dollars, an increase of 21.25%. Although the price of enzymes and coenzymes fell by 28.65%, the substantial increase in volume prompted the export value to increase by 81.27%.

(3) Medical devices

In 2019, the export of medical device products was US $ 28.702 billion, an increase of 21.46%. The top ten exporting countries have all achieved double-digit growth. Among them, the US exports to the largest market are US $ 7.748 billion, an increase of 20.43%, accounting for 26.99%. Japan and Hong Kong rank second and third.

The export of hospital diagnosis and treatment equipment was 12.456 billion US dollars, an increase of 23.61%, accounting for 43.4%. In recent years, Mindray Medical, Neusoft Medical, Wandong Medical, Lianying Medical and other local high-end medical device companies have continuously developed high-quality development and layout through the introduction of talents, technological innovation, overseas mergers and acquisitions, establishment of overseas marketing channels, and participation in government projects. In the international market, results have gradually appeared.

The export of health care and rehabilitation products was 6.711 billion US dollars, an increase of 11.5%. In recent years, the Chinese government has formed a number of opinions of the State Council on Accelerating the Development of the Rehabilitation Assisting Appliance Industry, and the "Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Promoting the Development of Elderly Care Services" and the "Outline of Action for Promoting High-Quality Development of the Health Industry". Supported by a large number of relevant policy documents, the policy system that supports and promotes the development of the rehabilitation aids industry has promoted the further development of the industry.

The export of disposable consumables was US $ 5,488 million, an increase of 39.39%, and the price increased by 34.26%; the export of oral equipment and materials increased by 13.3%, and the medical dressing increased by 4.16%.

● Import situation

After experiencing a sharp decline in the import price of Western medicine products in 2018, which led to a negative growth in imports throughout the year, China's imports of medical and health products rebounded rapidly in 2019, with imports of US $ 71.861 billion, a substantial increase of 42.5%. The import of traditional Chinese medicine, western medicine and medical equipment all performed well. Among them, western medicine products performed best, with an increase of 62.55%, accounting for 59.73%, and the import price increased by 51.84%.

From the perspective of Western medicine segmented products, in 2019, Western medicine imports were US $ 19.91 billion, an increase of 52.79%, and a price increase of 30.4%.

The import of biochemical drugs was US $ 12.26 billion, a substantial increase of 157.95%, and the price increased by 11.237%, which was the most active. The import of biologics products, mainly anti-tumor, increased significantly.

The import of APIs was US $ 10.75 billion, an increase of 24.7%. Varieties with larger imports included cyclic amide (including cyclic urethane), atorvastatin calcium, methionine (methionine), acarbose hydrate, etc. Ireland, the United States, Germany, Japan and Norway are the top five importers of APIs in 2019. In recent years, due to environmental protection pressures and the monopoly of some APIs, APIs have frequently suffered from supply cuts or price hikes. For this reason, our downstream companies are gradually seeking import substitution; the consistency evaluation of generic drugs and the increasing number of new drugs at home and abroad The listing application has also expanded the demand for high-quality raw materials, and increased the import growth rate of raw materials for Western medicine.

In 2019, new import codes for anti-cancer drug raw materials, anti-cancer drugs, and anti-cancer biochemical drugs were added, with imports of US $ 203 million, US $ 3.978 billion, and US $ 1.424 billion, totaling US $ 5.605 billion.

Among medical device products, hospital diagnostics and treatment equipment imports accounted for the largest proportion. In 2019, the import of such products was 18.665 billion US dollars, an increase of 23.39%, accounting for 25.97% of China's total imports of medical and health products. Among them, the import of medium and high-end equipment such as physical and chemical analyzers, optical instruments, artificial joints, and nuclear magnetic resonance equipment has maintained relatively rapid growth.

In addition, in 2019, the import of Chinese medicine products was 2.155 billion US dollars, an increase of 15.93%. The import growth rate of plant extracts, Chinese medicinal materials and beverages, and health care products was high, and the market demand was strong.

From the perspective of the import market, Germany has surpassed the United States to become the largest importer of our pharmaceutical products. The top five importers are Germany, the United States, Japan, Ireland and France. The top 20 countries whose imports have increased by more than 50% include Norway, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Ireland, and Sweden. The major increase in the import of Western medicine products is the main reason.