Shanghai Pharmaceuticals, China's second-largest distributor of pharmaceutical products, plans to make a landmark overseas acquisition within the next 6-12 months, Reuters reported, citing the China Securities Journal on Tuesday.

Citing comments made by Chairman Lu Mingfang at a results conference, Shanghai Pharma said it was mainly targeting overseas patent drug makers and hoped a successful acquisition would increase its portfolio of new drugs and raise its competitiveness.

The firm had earlier formed a team to sniff out opportunities and said that it was now going through the list of companies.

Given the size of its own balance sheet, Shanghai Pharma said the potential target would likely be a mid-sized US or European firm owning patent drugs.

Shanghai Pharma, which listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange on May 20, reported net profit for the six months ended June 30 jumped 65.7 percent to 1.3 billion yuan ($203 million), as revenues rose 36 percent from a year ago to 25.21 billion yuan.

The firm has said its full-year net profit would be at least 2.1 billion yuan,