Strong growth of western medicine preparations in the first quarter

The promotion of industrial transformation and upgrading throughout the country and the encouragement of the export of preparations have brought development opportunities for Chinese preparations to enter the international market. Since the beginning of this year, affected by the slowdown in the export growth of APIs and medical devices, China’s pharmaceutical exports have generally increased slightly by 8.6%. The value of exports has reached US$ 11.126 billion, of which Western medicines have seen a significant increase in exports, which has become a major driving factor in boosting the growth of China’s foreign trade. In the first quarter, the import and export volume of western medicines in China reached 3.12 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 47% year-on-year. Among them, the import value of 2.48 billion US dollars, an increase of 45.65%; export value of 640 million US dollars, an increase of 52.63%, the export growth rate higher than the raw material medicine 47%, higher than the overall pharmaceutical growth of 44%.

In the first quarter of the year, the share of developed countries rose. Western medicines in China were exported to 150 countries and regions. The proportion of exports to developed countries increased by 5.51% over the same period of last year. The market is increasingly diversified, and the proportion of developed countries in exports has increased. Among them, Asia, Oceania, and Europe were the top three regions for the export of western medicine preparations, which accounted for 79% of the total exports of western medicine preparations. The export value was US$ 223 million, US$ 147 million, and US$ 115 million, respectively.

As Chinese companies step up the pace of international certification, my exports to Australia, the European Union and other developed countries have shown a sharp increase. Compared with the same period of last year, the growth rates have reached 98% and 106%, respectively, which is higher than the overall increase in Western medicines exports. 100%, their share increased by 3.9% and 6.2% respectively.

From the import market point of view, Europe, Asia and North America are still the main sources of imports of western medicine preparations in China. The imports from these three regions accounted for 93% of the total imports of Western medicine preparations. In the first quarter, imports of western medicines from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa increased tremendously, reaching 169%, 108%, and 51%, respectively, while imports from North America and ASEAN dropped by 4.1% and 60% year-on-year. Among them, the increase in imports of western medicines from Hungary, Poland, and Bulgaria is an important factor that drives the development of preparations for Eastern Europe. Imports are mainly concentrated on vitamins, other doses of drugs, and pharmaceuticals containing other alkaloids. Cefuroxime preparations and contraceptives based on hormones. The amount of Western medicine preparations imported from the Middle East is relatively small, but it grows faster. The main importer is Israel. The products are concentrated on vitamin medicines and formulated doses containing recombinant human insulin. Imports from ASEAN mainly from Singapore’s re-exports, price pressures in the mainstream market, and multinational companies’ investment in emerging markets have increased China’s pace of importing western medicines from emerging markets, which may have led to a decrease in imports of Western medicines from North America and ASEAN. The main reason.

Private enterprise accounted for more than half of the first half of this year, China's total of 750 enterprises engaged in the export of western medicine preparations, including 118 state-owned enterprises, the export value of 75.44 million US dollars, an increase of 9.5%, lower than the overall increase of Western medicine preparations by 43%, accounting for 11.8 %, a decrease of 5% over the same period last year. The main structure of trade has changed markedly, and the export of private enterprises accounted for half of the country's exports for the first time. The export of foreign-funded enterprises showed a negative growth, accounting for 36%, which was a decrease of 23% over the same period of last year. At the same time, the export of private enterprises showed a trend of substantial growth. Exports amounted to 330 million U.S. dollars, an increase of 229.6% year-on-year, and the proportion of exports increased by 28% over the same period of last year, accounting for 52% of the total exports of western medicine preparations. However, from a whole point of view, the concentration of local western drug preparation companies in China is still not high. Exports to the developed countries' markets are still dominated by foreign-funded enterprises. The proportion of private enterprises in the export of western pharmaceutical preparations is increasing, mainly due to Australia and South Korea. Demand from markets such as New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong in China increased significantly.

In the first quarter, a total of 217 enterprises in China were engaged in the import of western medicine preparations, of which 88 were foreign-funded enterprises. The import amount accounted for 65.5% of the total imports of western medicine preparations, a year-on-year increase of 37.7%, and the concentration was relatively high, basically controlling the import of western medicine preparations in China. lifeline.

In contrast, the import value of state-owned and private enterprises is relatively inferior, with 42 state-owned enterprises accounting for only 15.7% of imports, while 82 private enterprises only account for 14.8% of imports, but the import growth of state-owned enterprises is relatively large. The year-on-year increase of 97.7% was higher than the overall increase of imports of western medicine preparations by 52%.

The global pharmaceutical industry has entered the era of borderless, and it is a general trend that China's pharmaceutical foreign trade has upgraded from exporting raw material medicines to exporting pharmaceutical preparations. Domestic pharmaceutical companies have moved from the Chinese market to the international market as a general trend. The rapid expansion of the global pharmaceutical market and the expiry of patent blowouts, policies encouraging the construction of international marketing systems and the reform of the domestic medical system have injected new vitality into the development of China's pharmaceutical industry. The rapid growth of the import and export of western medicine preparations in China in the first quarter was a good start, indicating that the booming development of western medicine preparations in China will surely continue.