China's medical foreign trade maintained growth in 2013

Statistics from China’s CCCMHPIE (Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export if Medicines & Health Products) showed that the export and import volume of China's medical industry totaled $89.7billion in 2013, a year-on-year rise of 10.27%.

The Chamber forecast a 10% increase this year. The export volume of China's medical sector amounted to $51.2billion in 2013, an increase of 6.9% year-on-year. While the import volume totally $38.5 billion, a growth of 15.2%.

A lot of changes have happened at the area of China's medical foreign trade. For example, the bulk active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) sector, which saw excellent performance in the past few years, has fallen into weakness. Meanwhile, innovator APIs and finished drugs’ exports grew fast in 2013.

Accelerated product registration filings

Chinese enterprises have accelerated product registration in developed markets. Last year, Chinese medical companies submitted 150 files to the US Food and Drug Administration. Meanwhile, similar applications to the European Directorate for Quality Medicines reached 172.