China on Friday released a five-year plan for its pharmaceutical industry, outlining targets such as keeping biomedical research, development, and application at the global forefront by 2030. This move signals the country's resolve to turn drug innovation into a strategic strength.
The plan, jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and nine other authorities, calls for a major leap in the core competitiveness and international influence of China's pharmaceutical industry from 2026 to 2030. It is hoped that core technologies in key fields will see systematic breakthroughs during this period.
Specifically, first-in-class drugs developed in China should account for no less than 25 percent of the global total, with the number of innovative drugs approved for market ranking among the world leaders. The innovative drug sector is expected to grow at an average annual rate of at least 20 percent, according to the plan.
China also expects the biomedical sector to take shape as a national pillar industry at an accelerated pace.
The combined revenue of pharmaceutical enterprises above a designated scale threshold -- an annual main business revenue of 20 million yuan (about 2.96 million U.S. dollars) -- should reach at least 3.5 trillion yuan by 2030, the plan says.
The number of companies with an annual revenue exceeding 10 billion yuan should grow to 50. At least five Chinese drugs should achieve global annual sales exceeding 1 billion U.S. dollars, according to the plan.
The plan arrives at a pivotal moment as China's pharmaceutical industry is shifting rapidly from its traditional identity as a supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients and a large consumption market, toward a new phase defined by the export of innovative drugs.
In the first half of this year, 38 innovative drugs were approved in China, of which 31, or more than 80 percent, were domestically developed. As of the end of 2025, China had 4,751 innovative drugs in the pipeline, accounting for one third of the global total and placing it first in the world for drugs under development.
The broader industry also showed great vitality. Value-added output of China's pharmaceutical enterprises above the 20-million-yuan revenue threshold grew 6.4 percent year on year in the first half of this year.
Moreover, China's innovative drugs have gained wider global reach. The total value of overseas licensing deals for innovative Chinese drugs has surpassed 120 billion U.S. dollars this year, up 36 percent year on year.
