Foreign firms bullish on China opportunities

China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) has a strong focus on innovation and sustainable growth, offering foreign firms in China more opportunities to develop in the country, said Marc Horn, president of Merck China.

"For us, the plan means being more digital, greener and healthier. If you look at different focal areas, including biopharma, new materials, sustainability, data and digital, we see all business opportunities for us," Horn said.

"Taking the biopharma sector as an example. We see a lot of need for innovative drugs coming to China, so we bring drugs to the Chinese market. We have local corporations in the Chinese market for healthcare. Through life sciences, we also help other Chinese biopharma companies to develop new drugs and treatments," he said.

Regarding local biopharma companies, Horn said: "They are very innovative. They are very open-minded to collaborations. They have a strong customer focus, and they are very fast in developing new things and scaling them up. And these are complementary strengths to our long-term view, including our science and technology expertise, and our customer intimacy. Working with local partners, we can develop new products."

He said multinational corporations working with local startups has become a successful strategy. "China is unique, where you can quickly develop new ecosystems. You can scale them up when they are successful. And you have a vast market here, both from a consumer perspective, and from a manufacturing and supply chain perspective. So you find all the materials here in China."

The past few years have witnessed pharmaceutical MNCs betting big on China. Over the past decade, Merck has invested nearly 7 billion yuan ($986 million) in the country. In July 2024, Merck invested 6.6 million euros ($7.7 million) in the commercial production of its first Good Manufacturing Practices-compliant manufacturing line for cell culture media in its Life Science Center in Nantong, Jiangsu province. In March the same year, it spent 14 million euros to expand its M Lab Collaboration Center in Shanghai, the company's largest in its global network of 10 interconnected labs.

According to pharmaceutical services provider NextPharma, as of Oct 21, the total amount of China's innovative drugs authorized to foreign countries has exceeded $100 billion, almost doubling the level of full-year 2024.

Gao Chengyuan, president and CEO of Guangzhou TY Marketing, said: "The cooperation between MNCs and local partners has shifted from 'trading market for technology'to 'co-create new dividends'. Foreign companies are advanced in high-end equipment and industrial software, while local companies own competitive edges in fast iteration, scale production and supply chain flexibility. When both parties combine their strengths, there is a replicable business model, such as joint research and development, building joint ventures and data sharing."

Zhang Xinyuan, a researcher at consultancy Co-Found, said: "China has been adhering to the opening-up, and providing a vast market space and a favorable business environment for foreign-funded enterprises. This not only promotes the upgrading of Chinese industries, but also contributes to the global economy. China's efforts in promoting cooperation between enterprises reflect its solid attitude of sharing development opportunities with the rest of the world."

Horn added: "China is the second-largest market for us. We see a highly sophisticated ecosystem in China that consists of not only innovation, but also of a complete manufacturing supply chain, enabling lots of new innovation. That's an area we would like to support. And when you think about biopharma and elderly care, that means we need to bring personalized treatment to China. We want to develop together with local partners for China solutions in that space."