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This year, the biopharmaceutical industry was listed as a new pillar industry at the national level for the first time. From a long-term cultivated “emerging industry” to an upgraded “emerging pillar industry,” the shift in the industry’s positioning is a natural result of years of accumulation leading to a qualitative change in the industry.

Looking back at China’s biopharmaceutical journey, 2025 is a crucial watershed. In this year, China approved 76 innovative drugs, setting a new record; China’s research pipeline accounts for about 30% of the global total, ranking second worldwide; the total value of licensing and external transactions for innovative drugs exceeded $130 billion, with over 150 licensing deals, also a record high.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the focus of cooperation between multinational pharmaceutical giants and domestic innovative drug companies shifted from simply importing innovative products to acquiring core technologies and innovation platforms; more Chinese innovative drug companies are daring to challenge global standard therapies and conduct head-to-head clinical trials. China’s biopharmaceutical sector has achieved a leap from following to running alongside, and even leading in some niche areas, becoming an important force in global biopharmaceutical innovation.

A series of breakthroughs have opened new development opportunities for foreign-invested companies. Cytiva China President Li Lei expressed excitement in an interview: “The biopharmaceutical industry being listed as a new pillar industry signals an acceleration in industry upgrading policies. We also observe that China has clear advantages in supply chain resilience, engineering capabilities, and talent reserves: on one hand, the local supply chain continues to improve, enabling faster response to R&D and production needs; on the other hand, the ability to translate scientific research into industry and foster collaboration is continuously strengthening, driving China’s innovation acceleration.”

In mid-March, Cytiva launched three products and innovative solutions, along with a new local brand tailored for the Chinese market. By 2026, Cytiva plans to introduce more than ten products in China, with over half manufactured domestically.

Regarding the reasons behind this, Li Lei said that companies are no longer satisfied with just providing products and services but aim to be long-term partners and capability builders for Chinese innovation. Today’s Chinese biopharmaceutical industry lacks not enthusiasm for innovation but the systemic ability to quickly translate innovation into products and reliably push these products globally.

“Currently, over 25% of our Chinese revenue is supported by local manufacturing, and we plan to increase this to over 50% in the next three to five years,” Li Lei told reporters. Cytiva aims to enhance its innovation capacity by leveraging its China Science and Technology Innovation Center in Shanghai, supporting end-to-end process development to facilitate the translation of cutting-edge molecular technologies from lab to clinic; strengthening local manufacturing and supply chain through its bases in Beijing and Tonglu; building an industry ecosystem through cooperation and talent training; and connecting global resources via the “Sail Plan” to help Chinese companies align with international standards early and navigate overseas expansion steadily.

Dreams of “sailing” in the global pharmaceutical innovation system are shared by Chinese biopharmaceutical companies. Ding Lieming, Chairman of Betta Pharmaceuticals, admitted that there is still a significant gap between China and developed countries in original innovation at the source of innovative drugs. Achieving source innovation requires encouraging scientists to focus on cutting-edge international research, explore new targets, and involve clinicians in drug design based on disease fundamentals. It also involves supporting leading enterprises to build collaborative innovation ecosystems and transforming disruptive technologies. “The pharmaceutical industry actively and deeply integrates into the global innovation system, leveraging AI to lead drug R&D, moving from ‘running alongside’ to ‘leading’ in frontier tracks, and cultivating internationally influential tech-leading enterprises.”

When the seeds of innovation take root and sprout, the key question becomes how to grow these seeds into a forest, driving the industry toward high-quality development. The nationwide biopharmaceutical parks are central to this mission. They are not only “accelerators” for transforming innovative results but also the “main battleground” for industry ecosystem collaboration.

By 2026, Guangzhou will accelerate breakthroughs in biopharmaceutical innovation, supporting frontier technologies such as brain-computer interfaces, cell therapy, and high-end imaging; deepen the “1+N+X” clinical trial consortium; and promote the construction of specialized innovation industrial parks like nuclear medicine. The Huangpu, Nansha, Yuexiu, and Liwan biopharmaceutical value parks will form a “dislocation development and complementary cooperation” industrial spatial pattern, creating an ecological loop integrating “innovation chain, industry chain, talent chain, and capital chain.”

In Suzhou, the biopharmaceutical industrial park has attracted the world’s top ten pharmaceutical companies to set up operations and regularly hosts top U.S. funds, making Suzhou a “treasure trove” of Chinese innovative drugs. To facilitate overseas companies’ entry, Suzhou Biopharmaceutical Industry Park has launched cross-border investment services through an overseas business service center, allowing foreign investors to invest in park enterprises from abroad. Meanwhile, the park actively promotes companies’ international expansion by integrating procedures into a “single window,” streamlining outbound investment materials, reducing review times, and supporting enterprises with physical footholds overseas via the park’s overseas business service center.

Today, biopharmaceutical parks are building deep innovation ecosystems through public technology platforms, risk capital, and optimized review services. The path to upgrading biopharmaceuticals is full of opportunities and challenges. It is not only a technological innovation-driven industry climb but also a systemic overhaul involving policies, ecosystems, and capital. Moving from “following” to “leading,” China’s biopharmaceutical industry will develop an innovative ecosystem shared with the world and irreplaceable in the global landscape.