China had exported over US $1.3 billion worth of pharmaceuticals by November 2010, for the current year. Exports of Western medicine accounted for over US $100 million of those sales. Asia is China’s primary export market for Western medicine, accounting for US $53 million, over one-half. Similarly, biochemical pharmaceutical products exports reached US $150 million in this same time period.
The top 4 export markets are currently the United States, Britain, Switzerland, and Japan. However, emerging as major pharmaceutical markets are India, Russia, Australia, and the Association of South East Asia Nations. Meanwhile, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shanghai, Shandong, and Fujian are the major producers of pharmaceuticals for export purposes.
The pharmaceutical industry in China has been recording some very impressive numbers since the early 2000’s. By November 2009, according to Chinese Customs, imports and exports in pharmaceuticals and health products reached a total of US $4.74 billion. Furthermore, it was found that the number of manufacturers in this industry had reached over 2,400 in this same year with industrial output totalling RMB 420.7 billion, up 10.9% from the previous year. In November 2010, pharmaceutical raw materials exports reached US $1.376 billion. A 2010 study by Research In China found that the structure of China’s pharmaceutical manufacturing was largely concentrated on active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), as the world’s largest exporter and 80% of all of the country’s exports in the industry being of this type. This research also revealed that though the industry in general has a low concentration rate of competition, this rate increases drastically as you divide the industry by sector. For example, only 4 companies control 90% of the total domestic vitamin market.
The major export markets for Chinese made pharmaceuticals are the United States, Britain, Switzerland, and Japan, with India, Russia, Australia, and the ASEAN countries emerging as powerful target markets. Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shanghai, Shandong, Fujian are the primary pharmaceutical manufacturing areas in China.
CPG has participated in the Pharmaceutical industry through sourcing such products as: Acetylsalycilic Acid, Caffeine, Citric Acid, and Paracetamol.