SCIO press conference on development of industry and information technology in H1 2026

Yicai:

Pharmaceuticals are closely related to people's lives and health. How was the development of China's pharmaceutical industry in the first half of this year? How do you plan to promote the high-quality development of the pharmaceutical industry? Thank you.

Wang Weiming:

Thank you for your questions. I will invite Ms. Tao to take the questions.

Tao Qing:

Thank you for your questions. The pharmaceutical industry is a strategic industry that is related to people's well-being, economic development and national security, and is an important foundation for implementing the Healthy China initiative. In the first half of this year, China's pharmaceutical industry demonstrated the following three features.

First, innovative capabilities continued to strengthen. The MIIT has closely combined national strategic sci-tech forces with innovative enterprises, injecting fresh vitality into pharmaceutical innovation. Fruitful results have been achieved in areas such as first-in-class drugs and high-end medical devices. In the first half of this year, 38 innovative drugs were approved for marketing, of which 31 were domestically produced, accounting for more than 80%. China has seen a steady stream of high-quality achievements in innovative drugs, with a number of world-first products approved for marketing. These include the world's first antibody therapy for hepatitis D, the first CAR-T therapy for solid tumors, the first bispecific antibody against rabies, and the first invasive brain-computer interface medical device. Overseas out-licensing deals for China-developed innovative drugs reached a new high, with aggregate deal value exceeding $100 billion in the first half of the year. This reflects a systemic leap in the innovation quality of China's pharmaceutical industry.

Second, the industry maintained stable performance with steady progress. Facing a complex and challenging external environment and the pressure of industry transformation, the pharmaceutical industry has demonstrated strong resilience. From January to June, the value added of the pharmaceutical industry above designated size increased by 6.4% year on year. The biopharmaceuticals sector recorded double-digit growth, becoming the main driver for the industry's accelerated expansion. The industry's export delivery value exceeded 210 billion yuan, up 9% year on year. The export structure was continuously optimized, with high value-added products such as chemical preparations and biopharmaceuticals accounting for nearly 20% of the total. Exports were shifting more rapidly from active pharmaceutical ingredients toward higher-value-added finished drug formulations.

Third, the quality and efficiency of development continued to improve. Digital and intelligent technologies and green technologies empowered the pharmaceutical industry to accelerate transformation and upgrading. Together with relevant departments, we issued and implemented the "Implementation Plan for the Digital and Intelligent Transformation of the Pharmaceutical Industry (2025-2030)" to comprehensively and collaboratively promote the digital and intelligent transformation of the pharmaceutical industry. We adopted a tiered approach to developing smart pharmaceutical factories, supporting 21 pharmaceutical manufacturers in building excellence-level smart factories and developing model applications of digital and intelligent technologies that set the pace for the industry's high-quality development. We accelerated the green and low-carbon transformation of the pharmaceutical industry, cultivated more than 300 green factories, and supported pharmaceutical companies in using green technologies to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and enhance operational safety.

Next, we will accelerate the promotion and implementation of the 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry, focus our efforts on developing a pharma sector that is innovative, digitally driven, inclusive, and open, and build greater momentum in biomedicine as a new growth frontier. We will continue to step up R&D in original and core technologies, and leverage artificial intelligence to fully empower industrial development. We will enhance drug access for key groups such as the elderly, children, and patients with rare diseases, and strive to ensure that every patient has access to effective, safe, and affordable medications, and step up efforts to bring more innovative, high-quality medicines made in China to patients around the world. Thank you.