Health & Beauty

Under the complicated internal and external situation, the regional trade dynamism stimulated by the emerging markets of the Belt and Road Initiative and the entry into force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is adding a steady growth impetus to China's pharmaceutical import and export.

According to customs data, in the first half of the year, the import and export volume of China's medical and health care products was 127.963 billion US dollars, a slight increase of 1.28% year-on-year. Among them, the export was 81.380 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 1.81%; the import was 46.583 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 7.18%. From the perspective of key market performance, China's exports and imports to countries along the "Belt and Road", and exports to RCEP member countries showed double-digit growth, much 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 Medicines and Health Products said that despite facing multiple challenges, the fundamentals of China's pharmaceutical foreign trade are resilient, potential and long-term positive have not changed. With the implementation of a package of national economic stabilization policies and the orderly progress of resumption of work and production, China's import and export of medical and health products is still expected to overcome the unfavorable factors of the continuous decline in global demand for anti-epidemic materials and continue to maintain stable growth.

Since the beginning of this year, the global new crown pneumonia epidemic has continued to spread, the Ukrainian crisis has severely dampened the global economic recovery process, inflation pressure and supply chain pressure have continued to increase, and the international environment has become more severe and complex. At the same time, the multi-point distribution of the domestic epidemic has also brought greater pressure to the production and operation of some enterprises and the stability of the supply chain. All these increase the instability and uncertainty of China's pharmaceutical import and export. Especially affected by the adjustment of many countries' anti-epidemic policies, the export growth rate of masks (medical/non-medical), protective clothing and other protective medical dressings and human vaccines has dropped significantly.

Analysis from the Medical Insurance Chamber of Commerce shows that in the first half of the year, exports of traditional Chinese medicines and western medicines maintained a good growth trend, while the growth rate of medical device exports declined.

According to customs data, in the first half of the year, China's exports of traditional Chinese medicine products amounted to US$2.802 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21.35%. From the perspective of subdivided products, plant extracts with the highest export share were the most active, with an export value of 1.765 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 28.19%; Chinese herbal medicines and decoction pieces followed, with an export value of 668 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 1.83%; Chinese patent medicines Exports of 207 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 45.57%, the largest increase in traditional Chinese medicine products; health care products exports of 162 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 20.94%.

During the same period, the foreign trade of western medicine has developed strongly. According to customs data, the export value of China's western medicine products was 34.533 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 17.71%; the import value was 25.064 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 19.99%. The total import and export of western medicines accounted 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 27.770 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 42.52%, and the export value accounts for 34.12% of the total pharmaceutical foreign trade market. The export value of anti-epidemic-related APIs such as antipyretic analgesics and penicillin increased by 31.64% and 30.5% respectively; the export value of non-anti-epidemic APIs for central nervous system drugs, cardiovascular system drugs, amino acids and their derivatives respectively An increase of 111.10%, 62.40% and 59.02%. The export value of western patent medicine was 3.339 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 22.22%. Hormone drugs in the segmented products increased significantly, with a year-on-year increase of 74.77%. Mainly affected by the sharp drop in the export value of human vaccines (exports of US$798 million, down 84.1% year-on-year), the export value of biochemical drugs was US$3.424 billion, down 51.91% year-on-year.

According to customs data, in the first half of the year, China's medical device trade volume was US$64.174 billion, of which the export value was US$44.045 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 14.04%. The exports of protective medical dressings such as masks (medical/non-medical) and protective clothing among subdivided products continued to decline sharply. Among them, the export of medical dressings and disposable consumables was 4.173 billion US dollars and 15.722 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 56.87% and 14.18% respectively.

The analysis of the Medical Insurance Chamber of Commerce shows that from the perspective of key markets, in the first half of the year, China's imports and exports to countries along the "Belt and Road" and RCEP member countries have outstanding performance. Among them, the export to the countries along the "Belt and Road" was 27.235 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 29.8%; the import from the "Belt and Road" countries was 7.917 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 14.02%. During the same period, China’s exports to RCEP member countries were US$18.633 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13.08%; exports to ASEAN were US$8.773 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.77%; and imports from RCEP member countries were 21.236 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 5.06%. The tariff concessions brought about by the entry into force of RCEP have reduced the cost of pharmaceutical trade between China and member states. The rules on the accumulation of origin, customs procedures, inspection and quarantine, and technical standards under the RCEP framework will also strongly promote trade and investment cooperation in the region. , In the future, the potential of pharmaceutical economic and trade cooperation between China and RCEP member countries will be accelerated.

According to customs data, among the country markets, in the first half of the year, China's top three export markets for pharmaceutical products were the United States, Germany, and India, with a total export value of US$24.753 billion. In addition to maintaining growth in China's exports of pharmaceutical products to India, exports to the United States and Germany both declined. Among them, exports to the United States were US$14.881 billion, down 10.61% year-on-year; exports to Germany were US$5.024 billion, down 21.72% year-on-year; exports to India were US$5.549 billion, up 8.72% year-on-year.