General

In 2022, China's export growth of western medicine products, including raw materials, western medicine preparations and biochemical drugs, will decline, but there are also many highlights in the sub-categories.

According to customs statistics, in 2022, China's import and export of western medicine products reached US $114.739 billion, up 3.55% year on year. Among them, the export value was 64311 million US dollars, down 5.01% year on year; The import volume was US $50.428 billion, up 16.99% year on year; The trade surplus was 13.883 billion US dollars, down slightly from the same period.

China has been the world's largest producer and exporter of raw materials for many years. In 2022, "the rise of unit price will drive the continuous growth of China's crude drug exports." According to customs data, Cao Gang, director of the Western Medicine Department of the China Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Pharmaceutical and Health Products, pointed out that the crude drug exports in 2022 will reach 51.786 billion US dollars, accounting for more than 80% of the western medicine products, with a year-on-year increase of 24.04%; The export volume of crude drugs was 11.9398 million tons, up 8.74% year on year; The average unit price of exports increased by 35.79% year-on-year, maintaining a steady growth trend.

Among them, the export of non-anti-epidemic raw materials such as digestive drugs increased by 7.3%, the export of amino acids, cardiovascular drugs and anesthesia increased by about 20%, and the export of central nervous system increased by more than 60%. The export of hormones, antipyretics and analgesics directly related to epidemic prevention increased by 12.47% and 22.12% respectively, while the export of respiratory system and hormone products except penicillin, cephalosporins and macrolides decreased. India and the United States remained the top two markets for China's crude drug exports, with exports to them up 7.54% and 8.74% respectively year on year.

The import volume of crude drugs was reduced and increased. According to customs data, in 2022, the import of crude drugs reached US $9.711 billion, up 5.26% year on year; The import volume was 1.2388 million tons, down 9.73% year on year. Cao Gang believes that this trend indicates that China's API industry is upgrading, and the import demand for high-end APIs for downstream pharmaceutical research and development and production is rising. At the same time, it also considers the impact of factors such as the increase of raw materials, transportation and supporting costs affected by the epidemic.

According to customs data, in 2022, the export volume and price of Chinese western medicine preparations will rise, with a total export of 6.605 billion US dollars, up 9.95% year on year; The export volume increased by 8.57% year on year; The average export price rose 1.57% year on year. Among them, except for the slight decline in the export of vitamin drugs, the export of other categories maintained a year-on-year growth trend, such as the growth rate of hormone drugs and penicillin drugs exceeded 20%. The United States and France are the top two markets for China's export of western pharmaceutical preparations, with exports to them increasing by 18.01% and 75.83% respectively year on year. During the same period, the import of western medicine preparations reached US $22.834 billion, down 4.14% year on year. In addition to anti-infective drugs, the import of all kinds of western medicine preparations decreased.

Cao Gang pointed out that "China's exports of western pharmaceutical preparations to Africa, ASEAN and Latin America accounted for 11.13%, 8.28% and 8.26% of the total exports respectively, and all of them showed a year-on-year growth trend, indicating that the pace of internationalization of China's western pharmaceutical enterprises is accelerating, and the demand of emerging markets for China's western pharmaceutical preparations is further expanding". He also pointed out that China's exports to the regulated market are still mainly produced by foreign enterprises in China or commissioned. The growth in the export of western pharmaceutical preparations to the United States, France and other developed countries last year does not mean that China's pharmaceutical industry has fully ranked among the world's leading positions.

According to customs data, in terms of biochemical drugs, the export of biochemical drugs in 2022 will reach 5.921 billion US dollars, down 70.32% year on year. Among them, the export of protein products was 1.083 billion US dollars, up 19.49% year on year; The export of human vaccines was US $993 million, down 93.66% year on year. In 2022, the top two markets for the export of biochemical drugs from the mainland are the United States and Hong Kong, China, with a year-on-year decrease of 6.3% and an increase of 8.14% respectively; Exports to Indonesia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, the top three markets of biochemical drugs in 2021, decreased by 91.58%, 96.13% and 90.81% respectively year on year. This is basically consistent with the overall decline in the export of human vaccines. During the same period, China's import of biochemical drugs was 17.884 billion US dollars, up 77.78% year on year. Among them, the import of human vaccines was 3.935 billion US dollars, up 11.24% year on year. Relying on the advantages of scientific and technological research and innovation and market business transformation, Ireland has been the largest source of import of biochemical drugs in China for many years.