Biotechnology
China has significantly bolstered its biotechnology sector, prioritizing it in three of the seven cutting-edge science and technology fields in its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025): brain science, genetic engineering, and clinical medicine. Biotech is also crucial to global development goals, particularly in public health, sustainable energy, and food security.
With sizeable domestic support, Chinese companies such as BGI (genome research), Beigene (anti-cancer drugs), Mindray (medical equipment) and WuXi Apptec (services and equipment for drug development) have risen to global prominence.
ChemChina took over Syngenta, the world’s third largest seed producer, in 2017. China is the world’s largest exporter of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs).
International collaboration and competition in biotech are intricately intertwined. China participates in roughly a third of the world’s multiregional clinical trials – only the US participates in more. China has also welcomed large investments by multinational pharmaceutical companies in domestic startups. At the same time, fair competition and market access remain a problem for many foreign firms in the healthcare sector, as localization efforts give domestic firms preferential treatment.
Great power competition adds further complexity. China, the US, and Europe all scrutinize the sharing of sensitive genetic and medical data. They also race for supremacy in dual-use technologies, such as brain-computer interfaces, which could be used for military robots.
Graphics dashboard
China launches more clinical trials than Europe
Between 2013 and 2023, China’s slice of global clinical trial starts jumped from 8 percent to 29 percent, overtaking Europe and closing in on North America. Beijing has successfully promoted China as a location for clinical trials. Although getting official approval in China often still takes longer than in Europe, its large public hospitals significantly reduce patient recruitment timelines and costs.
Biotech policy in China has focused on healthcare and foundational tech
Tracking the share of national and provincial documents that mention key terms reveals that biopharma and genomics consistently command the most policy attention, while bio-agriculture and, in particular, biomanufacturing trail far behind. This policy bias correlated with the areas in which China has made most progress: drug discovery, medical contract research and genomic sequencing. Attention for bio-based industrial production is increasing only slowly, suggesting that a government -push (which will be required to increase adoption) is unlikely in the near future.
China has overtaken Europe in biotech patents
While the US is still the unchallenged leader, China has rapidly increased its number of invention patents over the last 20 years. It overtook the EU in 2021. China’s rise in global patent applications is consistent with increased interest from overseas investors in its biotech startups. In pharma, Chinese firms are getting increasingly successful in discovering me-too, me-better and more recently first-in-class drugs.
Biotechnology in China: Timeline of crucial events
Development
Policy/regulation
Corporate/finance
China approves its first COVID-19 vaccine for general public use, developed by state-backed pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm and the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was approved for use in the EU.
Dec 2020
Chinese medical device company Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics acquires Finnish biotech company HyTest Invest and its subsidiaries for EUR 532 million.
Sep 2021
Leading Chinese medical imaging firm United Imaging invests EUR 410 million in a new manufacturing and research facility in Shanghai to rely heavily on automatic and intelligent processes.
Jan 2022
The National Development and Reform Commission releases the 14th Five-Year Plan for the bioeconomy, covering life sciences and biotechnologies and calling for more investment in basic research.
May 2022
MIIT calls for companies to participate in a new biomedical materials innovation program to increase collaborative innovation with a focus on polymer, metal and inorganic non-metallic materials.
Dec 2022
MOST issues clarifying rules on human genetic resources, preventing foreign entities from collecting resources in China and restricting their access to them.
Jun 2023
AstraZeneca acquired Gracell Biotechnologies for USD 1.2 billion, marking the first time a multinational drugmaker fully acquires a Chinese biotech firm.
Dec 2023
The National Healthcare Security Administration aims to enhance coordination between local governments on centralized or volume-based procurement (high volume, low cost purchase of pharmaceuticals).
May 2024
MIIT issues procurement guidelines, placing restrictions on a wide range of medical equipment, also X-ray machines, MRI & surgical equipment. The rules require 25, 50, 75 or 100 percent local content.
May 2021
MIIT releases Five-Year Plans for the medical equipment & pharma industries, to ensure basic supplies & improve the industrial chain, enhance pharma innovation, modernization, & supply security 2025.
Dec 2021
Chinese healthcare companies such as Andon Health and Beijing Hotgen Biotech see revenue surge thanks primarily to overseas sales of COVID-19 home testing kits.
Feb 2022
Fosun Pharma and Genuine Biotech win the right to market the first China-made oral Covid-19 drug. The EU approved the first oral COVID-19 antiviral treatment, Pfizer’s drug Paxlovid, in January 2022.
Jul 2022
MIIT releases a three-year plan to develop China’s non-food bio-based materials industry. By 2025, it aims for strong innovation capabilities to broaden its circular economy & reduce carbon emission.
Jan 2023
Neusoft Medical launches China's first dual-energy 3.0T magnetic resonance imaging system. Chinese firms can make systems between 1.5T to 3.0T (magnetic field strengths) using only domestic inputs.
Dec 2023
Caixin reports: China's outbound deals involving treatment rights exceeded inbound deals for the first time in 2023. Other parties can use a company’s products, technology or intellectual property.
Feb 2024
Recent developments
Tech progress
- Researchers at China’s Xijing Hospital performed the first human transplant of a gene-edited pig liver, with findings published in Nature. The study, using a six-gene edited pig liver in a brain-dead recipient, explores xenotransplantation as a potential solution to organ shortages and marks a step in this research field. (Source (CN): STDaily, March 27, 2025)
- Chinese Academy of Medicine-backed Origin Quantum startup reports its “Wukong” quantum computer’s application in biomedicine, notably faster breast cancer screening and drug design. This marks progress in China’s push to commercialize advanced quantum technology and leverage it for application in strategic sectors like biotechnology. (Source (EN): SCMP, April 28, 2025)
- Shanghai Renji Hospital and Ant Group jointly developed China’s first specialized AI urology agent. Leveraging real clinical data and deep doctor involvement, it offers pre-diagnosis services/report interpretation (300k users served). This exemplifies medical-tech integration and China's push for clinically validated AI in healthcare, aiming to scale expertise. (Source (CN): STDaily, April 23, 2025)
Domestic dynamics
- The MIIT unveiled a 2025-2030 pharma digitalization plan, featuring a detailed roadmap for AI/Big Data integration. Specific applications cover AI drug discovery, smart manufacturing, digital clinical trials, and intelligent quality control. The sheer extensiveness of these AI application examples signals a profound strategic commitment to embedding the technology at the core of China's pharmaceutical industrial policy. (Source (CN): MIIT, April 24, 2025)
Foreign involvement
- The US National Institutes of Health has blocked researchers in China from accessing controlled health databases like the SEER cancer registry, citing data security concerns. This move underscores the accelerating decoupling trend in US-China scientific research, particularly in sensitive biomedical fields. (Source (EN): NIH, April 2, 2025)
- AstraZeneca is investing USD 2.5 billion in Beijing E-Town to establish its sixth global strategic R&D center and a large-scale industrial project. The center will focus on frontier biology and AI, leveraging Beijing's ecosystem for early drug research and clinical development, signaling significant foreign investment in China's high-end biopharma R&D fueled by AI. (Source (CN): STDaily, March 22, 2025)
Publications
Topics
