Investing In The Chinese Pharma Industry

The number of pharmaceutical enterprises in China which include foreigninvestment rose from 600 in 1994 to 796 in 1995, and total foreign investment in the sector was up from 7.2 billion renminbi to 13.9 billion renminbi ($1.67 billion), according to Huang Jiye, director of the department of international cooperation at the State Pharmaceutical Administration of China.

However, he told a meeting in Beijing this month that the number of joint venture drug enterprises which were exporting fell to 98, or 11% of the total, in 1995, down from 13% in 1994. Also, the number of enterprises utilizing advanced technology had fallen to 9%, or 75, from 10%.

Alan Chit, executive director of HPC Healthcare and Pharma Consulting, said that China is predicted to be the world's largest drug market by 2020, yet the market environment there is still not clearly understood by most foreign players. There is still no reliable market data available; the accuracy of what is available remains questionable.