BEIJING, Aug 23 – China’s pharmaceutical industry currently ranks as the second largest in the world, with the number of innovative drugs in the pipeline accounting for approximately 30 percent of the global total, an official with the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) told a press conference on Friday.
Since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), a total of 204 innovative drugs, 387 pediatric drugs, and 147 drugs for rare diseases have been approved for market, effectively meeting the medication needs of key population groups, Yang Sheng, deputy head of NMPA, told the press conference.
During the period, China has taken comprehensive measures to strengthen the safety baseline for drugs, support the high-quality development of the pharmaceutical industry across the entire chain, and ensure comprehensive coverage of the public’s medication needs, according to Yang.
Chinese authorities approved 50 innovative drugs in the first seven months of 2025, surpassing the total of 48 approvals for all of last year.
Many of the innovative drugs approved for market launch are for serious conditions such as cancer, metabolic disorders and immune diseases.
Along with economic development and rising living standards, China is making fast progress in the field of innovative pharmaceuticals in recent years, and a number of multilateral drug companies have stepped up efforts to set up research and development (R&D) centers in the country.
In March, US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer opened a new R&D center at BioPark in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area. British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca signed an agreement in the same month to invest $2.5 billion in Beijing over the next five years, including the establishment of a global strategic R&D center in the city, according to Xinhua.
