China's Pharma Industry Achieved Double-Digit Growth in 2014

In 2014, China’s pharmaceutical industry earned main business income of RMB2.46 trillion, up 13.05% year-on-year, a total profit of RMB246 billion, up 12.26%, and an export value of RMB174.1 billion, up 6.63%. Within that, the chemical drug sector achieved main business income of RMB1.05 trillion, up 11.96% year-on-year, a total profit of RMB104.6 billion, up 14.86%, and an export value of RMB75.2 billion, up 2.52%.
In 2014, the Center for Drug Evaluation of China Food and Drug Administration accepted a total of 8 778 applications for new drug registration, of which 7 804 were for new chemical drug registration, a historical high, and generic drugs accounted for more than 95% of the total.
At present, China can produce more than 1 500 chemical API (active pharmaceutical ingredients) varieties and output is around 2.0 million tons. The varieties with an annual output exceeding 10 000 tons are penicillin, amoxicillin, vitamin C, vitamin E, metamizole sodium, caffeine and glucose injection. Statins, perindopril and sartan API varieties with special characteristics have become new products with export advantages. China’s top 10 export destinations for chemical drugs are the United States, India, Japan, South Korea, France, the Netherlands, Australia, Spain, Italy and Brazil. China produces over 4 000 chemical drug formulation varieties, which basically meet the domestic needs.