Chinese pharma "soon to be a world force"

The Chinese pharmaceutical industry will soon become a world force, ifall goes according to the plans set out in the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-2005), Yu Deming, director of the State Economic and Trade Commission's pharmaceutical department, has said.

Mr Yu, who is responsible for the reform and development of China's pharmaceutical industry, told the fourth Beijing Biotechnological and Pharmaceutical Forum last month that China plans to create 12 large pharmaceutical firms to rival the leading internationals, sharpening the competitive edge of its lumbering drug sector in the worldwide market, notes a report carried on the Asia Pulse news service.

The report quoted Mr Yu as saying that the new firms will have priority for technical renovation and R&D in both the domestic and international markets, and that another key project is the development of biological engineering. The companies' goals will be to become major developers of new technology as well as leading producers of medicines, he said; many of the 6,300 drug firms now operating in China are small and have no qualities to distinguish them from their competitors. Chinese firms must also increase their cooperation with overseas counterparts, he said.