Guilin at forefront in battle against malaria

Since 2000, global mortality rates among malaria patients have dropped by 47 percent. In Africa, the rate has come down by 54 percent for adults and 58 percent for children.

GPSC has played an important role, along with major global pharmaceutical companies such as Novartis in Switzerland and Sanofi-Aventis in France, in fighting malaria.

The Chinese company was at the forefront in developing the innovative artesunate vaccine, Artsun, the first of its kind, to replace quinine injections. The WHO has compared it to the "gold standard" in the battle against malaria.

Artsun is now registered in more than 30 countries and regions and has a 90 percent market share in treating servere malaria.

During the past three years, GPSC has supplied 23.8 million units of the vaccine globally, saving more than 3.4 million people from the scourge of malaria.

"This is an innovative drug that was developed in China," Guo Guangchang, chairman of Fosun Group, said.

During the past decade, 13 anti-malaria drugs developed by GPSC have been approved by the WHO, including three which are injected and 10 in oral tablets.

The company's products account for 80 percent of China's anti-malaria drug exports.

In the first three quarters of this year, Fosun Pharmaceutical, which includes GPSC, reported revenue of 9 billion yuan ($1.41 billion), a rise of 4.76 percent compared to the same period in 2014.

Further financial details have yet to be released. The company's products include metabolism and digestive system drugs, and vaccines, as well as GPSC's brands.

"At present, Guilin Pharma is building a new manufacturing site which will comply with (international) standards," GPSC said.

"In future, we will have a production capacity of over 15 billion tablets/capsules per year to meet the needs of both domestic and global markets." the company added.

Fosun Pharmaceutical also plans to expand its research and development program by working alongside institutions and other organizations.

"There should be more cooperation with research institutes and organizations," Chen Qiyu, chairman of Fosun Pharmaceutical, said.

"This would help create a much larger platform, allowing us to do a better job globally."