Sweeping China FDA reforms promise to make 'Chinese Dream' a reality

For years, China has been viewed with a mixture of excitement, optimism and suspicion by western pharmaceutical firms, with nervous investors wary of the relatively opaque political and economic environment in the country.

While many groups, such as Denmark’s Novo Nordisk (NOV: N) and others, invested in China early and often, others hesitated, despite the country’s remarkable economic transformation and its burgeoning pharmaceuticals sector.

Last year the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) quietly introduced a set of reforms that, over time, could transform the role played in the country by the global pharmaceuticals industry.