Building an innovation-powered economy

A1 China has made remarkable achievements with 40 years of reform and opening-up. Now it is the world's second-largest economy, with the world's manufacturing powerhouse and the second-largest healthcare market.

Novartis is proud of being a major partner of China's journey of reform and opening-up by expanding our footprint, fostering local talent, driving innovation and sustainable development in the past 32 years since our entry to the Chinese mainland. China is one of the most strategically important markets for Novartis. With four core businesses, three major manufacturing sites, and two R&D centers here, we are now even better positioned in this dynamic market.

A2 China's shift from "Made in China" to "Created in China" is set to benefit many companies, especially those in the pharmaceutical sector with innovation as their lifeblood. Novartis is one of today's most innovative companies with total R&D expenditure amounting to $9.1 billion last year, and we are committed to being a major partner of China's new journey to build an innovation-powered economy.

And we are proud of playing a part in accelerating the digital transformation of China's healthcare sector by embracing digital technologies including big data and artificial intelligence, and combining our pharmaceutical expertise.

A3 China's business environment has been continuously improving while the Foreign Investment Law marks a new and bold step by China to provide pre-establishment national treatment to foreign investors, and create a more open, transparent and predictable environment for investors. Abolition of case-by-case approval management and wider market access, as part of country's broader efforts in reform and opening-up, will surely bolster foreign investors' confidence.

A4 From the point of view of the pharmaceutical sector, countries that establish regulatory environments supporting innovation are best positioned to improve patient outcomes while speeding up access to new treatment. We are glad to see China is boosting its efforts to create such an environment. While exploring new technologies in gene editing, cell and gene therapies and other innovations, patient needs and safety must be considered first. Ethics must be held to the highest standards in these realms.

A5 The Chinese government has made great efforts to streamline approval procedures, especially the approval of new drugs, which has greatly benefited Chinese patients. For sure, this has also bolstered pharmaceutical companies' determination to further increase spending on research of new and innovative drugs. We are proud that we have got nine new medicines approved by China in the past two years. With the mission of improving the quality of life of Chinese patients, we are committed to bringing the newest and best therapies to China.