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
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.
Chinese biotech companies make their major income abroad
Several major Chinese biotech companies rely on the overseas market for their revenue, sometimes for over 80 percent. The decline of BGI’s overseas revenue share is likely associated with its addition to the US “entity list” in 2020. Only Jiangsu Hengrui generates almost all its revenue on the Chinese market. The company has partnerships with Merck and other foreign firms to jointly develop drugs, but does not directly export to overseas clients.
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
Ministry of Science and Technology publishes ethics guidelines on human genome editing. They prohibit clinical research on germline genome editing – i.e. editing in ways that the change is heritable.
Jul 2024
Big pharma increases its licensing and acquisition of drugs developed in China, boosting China’s Biotech sector. In 2024, major foreign drugmakers spent USD 3.15 bn on Chinese-developed molecules.
Dec 2024
China’s healthcare insurance subsidy increased by 30% to 700 CNY per person, according to the Government Work Report for 2025.
Mar 2025
As US-Chinese scientific research further decouples, the US National Institute of Health blocks researchers in China from accessing health databases like the SEER cancer registry.
Apr 2025
MIIT unveils a plan for over 20 pilot-scale biomanufacturing platforms, aiming to translate lab research into large-scale industrial production by 2027, serving 200 enterprises.
Jun 2025
The brain-computer interface (BCI) industry plans to prioritize healthcare, industrial, and consumer applications until 2030. Its notable achievements include the first human BCI implants.
Jul 2025
MIIT and NDRC announce the first batch of 43 companies drafted to build biomanufacturing pilot capacity platforms aiming to pool resources, funding, and talent.
Nov 2025
China's first Private Health Insurance Innovative Drug Catalogue includes 19 novel drugs, prioritizing those with “high levels of innovation”, and recommending them for commercial/private healthcare.
Dec 2025
The Chinese Academy of Sciences reports progress in brain-computer interface clinical trials, enabling a paralyzed patient to interact in the 3D real world through an embodied intelligence robot.
Dec 2025
Chinese pharma companies object to being targeted by the US’s new BIOSECURE Act, which limits federal funding for biotechnology made by companies with ties to “foreign adversaries”.
Jan 2026
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
China uses stem cells to develop first open-source brain-computer interface chip to apply in robotics and medical rehabilitation.
Jun 2024
China adds 91 items to its list of drugs covered by basic health insurance. It includes innovative drugs, with an average discount of 63%. A growing number – 70% – were from Chinese firms.
Nov 2024
China adds the California-based genomic sequencing firm Illumina to its “unreliable entities” list.
Feb 2025
Nature publishes findings from the first human transplant of a gene-edited pig liver in a brain-dead recipient - a potential solution to organ shortages -, performed at China’s Xijing Hospital.
Mar 2025
MIIT unveils a 2025-2030 pharma digitalization plan. Applications cover AI drug discovery, smart manufacturing, digital clinical trials, and intelligent quality control.
Apr 2025
The National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) approves 43 innovative drugs in H1 2025, a year-on-year increase of 59%, highlighting China’s shift toward commercial healthcare.
Jun 2025
NMPA approves China’s first brain-computer interface (BCI) medical device standard, effective January 1. The plan details support for core hardware/software and major companies as well as healthcare.
Sep 2025
Bayer’s new E-Town Open Innovation Center in Beijing aims to integrate industry, education, research, and entrepreneurship to strengthen China's innovation chain and integration into global markets.
Nov 2025
China launches the National Venture Capital Guidance Fund, which features investments for biomedicine and brain–computer interfaces, mainly to attract more private capital and financial institutions.
Dec 2025
The EU Commission’s proposal for the European Biotech Act, privileging domestically produced drugs, signals further European decoupling. China may need more factories in Europe for market access.
Dec 2025
Recent developments
- US-based Aligos Therapeutics has signed a licensing agreement with China-based Xiamen Amoytop Biotech to develop and commercialize pevifoscorvir sodium for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) treatment in China. Under the deal, Aligos will receive an upfront payment of USD 25 million and could earn up to USD 420 million in milestones and royalties. It will retain rights outside of China. (Source (EN): Aligos Therapeutics, April 16, 2026)
- China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) released the Implementation Opinion on "AI+drug regulation” to speed up the innovation cycle and integrate AI into the drug regulatory system by 2030. The opinion includes seven priority directions for advancing AI-driven drug oversight and five measures to strengthen digital infrastructure. (Source (CN): NMPA, People.cn, April 2, 2026)
- Swiss drugmaker Novartis will invest over CNY 3.3 billion (USD 460 million) in China. It will upgrade its manufacturing facility in Beijing and strengthen capabilities at its R&D center in Shanghai. (Source (EN/CN): Fiercepharma, Novartis, March 23, 2026)
- British drugmaker AstraZeneca will build a commercial cell therapy manufacturing factory and innovation center in Shanghai. The expansion would make the company the first multinational with end-to-end cell therapy capabilities in China. The facility will produce and supply CAR-T cell therapies, which modify immune cells, for the Asian market. The investment is part of AstraZeneca’s plan to invest USD 15 billion in China through 2030. (Source (EN/CN): Fiercepharma, AstraZeneca, March 19, 2026)
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