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 pharmaceutical import and export.

According to customs data, in the first half of the year, China's import and export of medical and health products amounted to 127.963 billion US dollars, a slight increase of 1.28% year on year. Among them, the export was USD 81.38 billion, down 1.81% year on year; Imports reached 46.583 billion US dollars, up 7.18% year on year. 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 the Import and Export of Medicines and Health Products said that despite the multiple challenges, the basic aspects of China's pharmaceutical foreign trade with strong toughness, sufficient potential and long-term improvement have not changed. With the implementation of the national package of policies and measures to stabilize the economy and the orderly progress of the resumption of production, China's import and export of medical and health products are still expected to overcome the adverse factors of the continuous decline in the 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 distribution of the domestic epidemic has also brought greater pressure on the production and operation of some enterprises and the stability of the supply chain. All these have increased the instability and uncertainty of China's pharmaceutical import and export. In particular, 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), protective clothing and human vaccines has decreased significantly.

The analysis from the Chamber of Commerce for Medical Insurance shows that in the first half of the year, the exports of traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine both maintained a good growth trend, and 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 reached 2.802 billion US dollars, up 21.35% year on year. From the perspective of subdivided products, plant extracts, which accounted for the highest proportion of exports, were the most active, with an export volume of 1.765 billion US dollars, up 28.19% year on year; The second was Chinese herbal medicine and decoction pieces, with an export volume of 668 million US dollars, up 1.83% year on year; The export of Chinese patent medicine was 207 million US dollars, up 45.57% year on year, with the largest growth rate among the subdivided products of traditional Chinese medicine; The export of health care products was 162 million US dollars, up 20.94% year on year.

During the same period, the foreign trade of Western medicine has enjoyed a strong momentum of development. According to customs data, China's exports of Western medicine products reached 34.533 billion US dollars, up 17.71% year on year; The import volume was US $25.064 billion, up 19.99% year on year. The total import and export of western medicine accounted for 46.57% of the market share of foreign trade in medicine. Among them, Western medicine raw materials are still the main export force, with an export volume of 27.770 billion US dollars, up 42.52% year on year, accounting for 34.12% of the total foreign trade market of medicine. The export volume of antipyretic and analgesic drugs, penicillin and other anti epidemic related APIs increased by 31.64% and 30.5% respectively; The exports of central nervous system drugs, cardiovascular system drugs, amino acids and their derivatives in non anti epidemic APIs increased by 111.10%, 62.40% and 59.02% respectively. The export volume of western patent medicines was 3.339 billion US dollars, up 22.22% year on year. The hormone drugs in the subdivided products increased significantly, with a year-on-year growth of 74.77%. Mainly affected by the sharp drop in the export of human vaccines ($798 million, a year-on-year decrease of 84.1%), the export of biochemical drugs reached $3.424 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 51.91%.

According to customs data, in the first half of the year, China's trade in medical devices amounted to US $64.174 billion, including US $44.045 billion in exports, down 14.04% year on year. The export of protective medical dressings, such as masks (medical/non-medical) and protective clothing, continued to decline significantly. Among them, the export of medical dressings and disposable consumables was 4.173 billion US dollars and 15.722 billion US dollars, down 56.87% and 14.18% year on year 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. Over the same period, China's exports to RCEP member countries reached US $18.633 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13.08%; Exports to ASEAN reached 8.773 billion US dollars, up 7.77% year on year; Imports from RCEP member countries reached US $21.236 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.06%. Tariff concessions brought about by the RCEP's entry into force have reduced the cost of pharmaceutical trade between China and its member countries. The rules of origin accumulation, customs procedures, inspection and quarantine, technical standards and other goods rules 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 its member countries will be released at an accelerated pace.

According to customs data, in the first half of the year, China's top three export markets of pharmaceutical products were the United States, Germany and India, with a total export volume of 24.753 billion US dollars. The export of Chinese pharmaceutical products to the United States and Germany has declined, except for the export to India, which has kept growing. Among them, the export to the United States was 14.881 billion US dollars, down 10.61% year on year; Exports to Germany reached US $5.024 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 21.72%; Exports to India reached US $5.549 billion, up 8.72% year on year.