China Sets 2030 Targets for Drug Innovation in New Five-Year Pharmaceutical Plan
核心洞察
China released a five-year pharmaceutical industry plan targeting global leadership in biomedical research, development and application by 2030, issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (搜索) and nine other authorities.
The plan requires Chinese-developed first-in-class drugs to account for at least 25 percent of the global total, with innovative drug sector growth of at least 20 percent annually.
China approved 38 innovative drugs in the first half of this year, 31 of them domestically developed, and held 4,751 innovative drugs in the pipeline as of the end of 2025.
China released a five-year plan for its pharmaceutical industry on Friday, setting targets that include keeping biomedical research, development and application at the global forefront by 2030. The plan was jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (搜索) and nine other authorities, and calls for a major leap in the core competitiveness and international influence of China's pharmaceutical industry from 2026 to 2030, with systematic breakthroughs expected in core technologies in key fields.
Quantitative Targets for Innovative Drug Output
The plan sets specific benchmarks for the innovative drug sector. First-in-class drugs developed in China should account for no less than 25 percent of the global total, and the number of innovative drugs approved for market should rank among the world leaders. The innovative drug sector is expected to grow at an average annual rate of at least 20 percent.
At least five Chinese drugs should achieve global annual sales exceeding $1 billion, according to the plan. China also expects the biomedical sector to take shape as a national pillar industry at an accelerated pace.
On the industry side, the combined revenue of pharmaceutical enterprises above a designated scale threshold, defined as annual main business revenue of 20 million yuan ($2.96 million), should reach at least 3.5 trillion yuan by 2030. The number of companies with annual revenue exceeding 10 billion yuan should grow to 50.
Approvals and Pipeline Position
The plan arrives as China's pharmaceutical industry shifts from its traditional role as a supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients and a large consumption market toward a 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 growth. 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.
Licensing Activity Abroad
Chinese innovative drugs have gained wider global reach through licensing. The total value of overseas licensing deals for innovative Chinese drugs has surpassed $120 billion this year, up 36 percent year-on-year.