Execs sanguine on H2 business climate in China

Q3: How do you view China's new reform initiatives aimed at fostering new quality productive forces, such as those to encourage industrial upgrade and technological innovation? Do you see these as opportunities or challenges for foreign enterprises, and why?

LI: Biopharma itself is representative of new quality productive forces, and the upgrade of the industry toward better standardization and digitalization aligns with the government's goal of promoting high-quality growth of the domestic economy.

The new reform initiatives will inject huge momentum into the biopharmaceutical industry. At the same time, technological innovation is key to building new quality productive forces, presenting significant opportunities for Cytiva.

L. WANG: I take these as opportunities for the pharmaceutical industry. First, innovative research and development are the core driving forces of the biopharmaceutical industry. Therefore, AstraZeneca continues to accelerate the research and development of innovative drugs and promote innovative results to benefit the world. Remarkably, over the past 12 months, AstraZeneca has entered into global licensing cooperation agreements with nine innovative Chinese pharmaceutical companies worth more than $6.5 billion.

Second, innovative full disease management solutions will benefit more patients in China and around the world. AstraZeneca actively promotes innovations in integrated diagnosis and treatment models, which have been implemented in thousands of hospitals in China and some of these solutions even "go global".

N. WANG: China's vigorous pursuit of "new quality productive forces "aims to foster an innovation-driven economic growth model centered on technological advancement. We view this not only as a signal of China's readiness to face the challenges of globalization and technological revolution with greater openness, inclusivity and innovation, but also as a reflection of its forward-thinking approach to the impending transformation of the labor market, presenting opportunities for foreign enterprises, including LinkedIn.

LinkedIn has observed that the Chinese government has taken a series of measures to promote the healthy development of the labor market. For instance, driving industrial upgrading and structural adjustments to create more employment opportunities is a key means to realize new quality productive forces.

ZHAO: Science and technology innovation is a driving engine for new quality productive forces. I believe, with the new reform initiatives, China will nurture an even more pro-innovation environment, further unleashing its innovation potential.

The last decade has seen a constantly improving policy environment, dedication to innovation, and investment in healthcare talent in China, which has led to innovation and industrial upgrade. We are also a beneficiary and a participant from the evolving environment. One example is that Astellas China achieved a couple of "firsts" in the history of the company over the course of one year.

I believe the momentum of upgrades and innovation will continue with China's strategy to drive new quality productive forces. We see opportunities here. We will be more than happy to play our part with our strengths to contribute to the development of new quality productive forces in China while delivering on our commitment to Chinese patients.