China has unveiled an ambitious five-year plan aimed at making the country a global leader in biomedical research, pharmaceutical innovation and drug development by 2030.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, the plan signals China’s determination to transform drug innovation into a strategic national strength and significantly expand the international influence of its pharmaceutical industry between 2026 and 2030.
The plan, jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and nine other government authorities, sets out targets for major breakthroughs in key pharmaceutical technologies and improvements in the competitiveness of Chinese drugmakers.
Under the plan, China aims to ensure that first-in-class drugs developed domestically account for at least 25 percent of the global total, while the number of innovative medicines approved for the market is expected to rank among the world’s leading levels.
The innovative drug sector is also targeted to grow at an average annual rate of at least 20 percent.
China further plans to accelerate the development of its biomedical industry into a national pillar industry.
By 2030, the combined revenue of pharmaceutical enterprises above the designated scale — companies with annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan — is expected to reach 3.5 trillion yuan, equivalent to about 2.96 million U.S. dollars under the exchange-rate figure cited by Xinhua.
The number of Chinese pharmaceutical companies generating more than 10 billion yuan in annual revenue is expected to reach 50, while at least five Chinese-developed medicines are targeted to achieve annual global sales exceeding one billion U.S. dollars.
The new strategy comes as China’s pharmaceutical industry moves beyond its traditional role as a major supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients and a large domestic market, increasingly positioning itself as a producer and exporter of innovative medicines.
Xinhua reported that 38 innovative drugs were approved in China during the first half of 2026, with 31 of them — more than 80 percent — developed domestically.
By the end of 2025, China reportedly had 4,751 innovative drugs in development, representing about one-third of the global total and placing the country first worldwide in the number of drugs under development.
The broader pharmaceutical industry has also recorded growth. Value-added industrial output from pharmaceutical enterprises above the designated revenue threshold increased by 6.4 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2026, according to Xinhua.
Chinese innovative medicines are also expanding internationally. The total value of overseas licensing deals involving innovative Chinese drugs reportedly surpassed $120 billion in 2026, representing a 36 percent year-on-year increase.
The latest five-year plan therefore places pharmaceutical innovation at the centre of China’s broader industrial strategy, with the country seeking to strengthen domestic research capabilities, develop globally competitive drugmakers and increase the international presence of Chinese-developed medicines.
