China advances biotech innovation: Expert

As the United States and China compete in cutting-edge technologies, Beijing is making a major push into biotechnology, identifying biomanufacturing as a core strategic industry to boost self-reliance and pursue technological advancement.

China has designated biomanufacturing a priority in its blueprint for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), which lawmakers have reviewed and finalized at the annual legislative and political advisory meetings.

The plan emphasizes industrial applications and expanding pilotscale platforms, with the goal of integrating research with commercial-scale production and establishing the country as a global leader in the bioeconomy by 2035.

"China wants to be self-sufficient from a pharmaceutical perspective. Being able to produce the newer sophisticated biologics themselves in China drives the desire to have this manufacturing capacity in-house," said Joseph Scheeren, a member of the French National Academy of Pharmacy, whose pharmaceutical career spans more than 35 years in research and development and global leadership positions in the United States, Europe and Asia.

China's biomanufacturing industry flourished during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), reaching a valuation of 1.1 trillion yuan ($152 billion), according to data from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

More than 20 provincial-level regions have launched support measures to develop the sector, including research funding and the creation of specialized industrial parks.

"For exports this is also important. China has a lot of talent and access to a lot of industrial knowledge that can be leveraged to build these manufacturing capabilities. Doing it now will mean being ready in a couple of years to produce for China and beyond," Scheeren, who is also a member of the advisory board of the University of Arizona R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy, told China Daily.

Scheeren said the nation's biotech sector is fueled by its rapidly growing research and development capabilities and a large talent pool.

"China's high-quality education system produces excellent researchers. The biomedical sector has published top-tier scientific articles, especially over the past decade," he said.

Recalling his experience in the country, Scheeren emphasized how rapidly China's innovation landscape has advanced.

He said he has been traveling to China since 2007 and was based there from 2012 to 2015, serving as head of R&D for Bayer Pharmaceuticals China and broader Asia operations, later leading the company's global pharmaceutical regulatory affairs.

"During a visit from our CEO, my boss — the head of China operations — asked what we should showcase. I suggested highlighting innovation in China. At that time, Chinese innovation wasn't particularly obvious, but there were clear indicators: the number of articles published in renowned scientific journals was increasing significantly, patents originating from China were growing, along with several other positive indicators. In essence, you could already see the seeds being planted for the growth of Chinese innovation," he said.

China's ongoing "artificial intelligence plus" strategy is also significantly accelerating biomanufacturing, especially in pharmaceutical innovation, where AI tools are substantially reducing both development cycles and expenses.

"AI will certainly be an asset to validate the processes and control the production processes and learn from production failures," said Scheeren.

By integrating digital technologies with manufacturing, China's core AI industry exceeded 1 trillion yuan in scale in 2025, with biomedicine as one of the new pillar industries, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

While the US maintains a lead in key areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and high-quality research, China is leading in critical technology research and manufacturing, rapidly outpacing the US in patent filings and total research output. Notably, 79 percent of US pharmaceutical companies now depend on Chinese contract firms for manufacturing, according to a recent report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com