Health & Beauty

Under the complex internal and external situation, the regional trade vitality stimulated by the emerging markets of the "the Belt and Road" and the entry into force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) is adding a driving force for the steady growth of China's international trade in medicine.

According to customs data, in the first half of the year, the import and export volume of China's pharmaceutical and healthcare products in international trade reached 127.963 billion US dollars, a slight increase of 1.28% year-on-year. Among them, exports reached 81.38 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 1.81%; The import reached 46.583 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 7.18%. In terms of the performance of key markets, China's exports and imports to countries along the "the Belt and Road" and exports to RCEP member countries showed double-digit growth, far higher than the overall growth rate of industry imports and exports.

Regarding the export situation of China's pharmaceutical foreign trade, the relevant person in charge of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Pharmaceutical and Health Products stated that despite facing multiple challenges, the fundamental principles of China's pharmaceutical foreign trade, which are strong resilience, abundant potential, and long-term improvement, have not changed. With the implementation and effectiveness of the national economic stabilization package of policies and measures, as well as the orderly progress of resuming work and production, China's international trade in pharmaceutical and health products is still expected to overcome the unfavorable factors of the continuous decline in global demand for epidemic prevention materials and continue to maintain stable growth.

Since this year, the global COVID-19 has continued to spread, the Ukrainian crisis has severely disrupted the process of global economic recovery, inflationary pressure and supply chain pressure have continued to increase, and the international environment has become more severe and complex. At the same time, the multiple outbreaks of the domestic epidemic have also brought significant pressure to the production, operation, and supply chain stability of some enterprises. These all increase the instability and uncertainty of China's pharmaceutical import and export. Especially affected by the adjustment of epidemic prevention policies in many countries, the export growth rate of protective medical dressings such as masks (medical/non medical) and protective clothing, as well as human vaccines, has shown a significant decline.

Analysis from the Medical Insurance Chamber of Commerce shows that in the first half of the year, both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine exports maintained a good growth trend, while the growth rate of medical device exports showed a decline.

According to customs data, in the first half of the year, China's international trade exports of traditional Chinese medicine products reached 2.802 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 21.35%. From the perspective of segmented products, the plant extracts with the highest proportion of exports showed the most active performance, with an export value of 1.765 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 28.19%; Chinese medicinal herbs and decoction pieces took second place, with an export value of 668 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 1.83%; The export of traditional Chinese patent medicines and simple preparations was 207 million US dollars, up 45.57% year on year, and the growth rate was the largest among the subdivided products of traditional Chinese medicine; The export of health products reached 162 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 20.94%.

During the same period, the development trend of foreign trade in Western medicine was strong. According to customs data, China's export volume of Western medicine products reached 34.533 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 17.71%; The import volume reached 25.064 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 19.99%. The total import and export volume of Western medicine accounts for 46.57% of the pharmaceutical foreign trade market share. Among them, Western medicine raw materials are still the main export force, with an export value of 27.77 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 42.52%, accounting for 34.12% of the total pharmaceutical foreign trade market. The export volume of anti epidemic related raw materials such as antipyretic and analgesic drugs and penicillin drugs increased by 31.64% and 30.5% respectively; The export volume of central nervous system drugs, cardiovascular system drugs, amino acids and their derivatives in non epidemic raw materials increased by 111.10%, 62.40%, and 59.02%, respectively. The export value of Western patent medicine reached 3.339 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 22.22%. The growth of hormone drugs in segmented products was significant, with a year-on-year increase of 74.77%. Mainly affected by a significant decrease in the export value of human vaccines ($798 million, a year-on-year decrease of 84.1%), the export value of biochemical drugs reached $3.424 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 51.91%.

In the first half of the year, China's medical device trade volume was 64.174 billion US dollars, of which the export volume was 440.45 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 14.04%. The export of protective medical dressings such as masks (medical/non medical) and protective clothing in segmented products continues to decline significantly. Among them, the export of medical dressings and disposable consumables reached 4.173 billion US dollars and 15.722 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 56.87% and 14.18%, respectively.

According to the analysis of the Chamber of Commerce for Medical Insurance, from the perspective of key markets, in the first half of the year, China's import and export to countries along the "the Belt and Road" and RCEP member countries were outstanding. Among them, the export to countries along the "the Belt and Road" was 27.235 billion US dollars, up 29.8% year on year; Imports from the "the Belt and Road" countries reached US $7.917 billion, up 14.02% year on year. During the same period, China's exports to RCEP member countries reached 18.633 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 13.08%; Exports to ASEAN reached 8.773 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 7.77%; Imports from RCEP member countries reached 21.236 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 5.06%. The tariff reduction brought about by the implementation of RCEP has reduced the cost of pharmaceutical trade between China and member states. The rules of origin accumulation, customs procedures, inspection and quarantine, and technical standards under the RCEP framework will also effectively promote regional trade and investment cooperation. In the future, the potential for pharmaceutical international trade and economic cooperation between China and RCEP member states will be accelerated.

In the first half of the year, the top three national markets for China's pharmaceutical product exports were the United States, Germany, and India, with a cumulative total export value of 24.753 billion US dollars. In addition to maintaining growth in exports to India, Chinese pharmaceutical product exports to the United States and Germany have also declined. Among them, exports to the United States amounted to 14.881 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 10.61%; Exports to Germany amounted to 5.024 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 21.72%; Exports to India reached $5.549 billion, an increase of 8.72% year-on-year.