China steps up production and export of pharmaceuticals
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-06-18 10:43

China has become the second largest producer of pharmaceutical ingredients in the world with an annual output of 800,000 tons, according to sources with the CPhI 2004 that concluded Thursday in Shanghai.

The three-day event was an annual international convention on pharmaceutical ingredients.

Industry insiders revealed at the CPhI 2004 that China now ranks first in the world in terms of annual production of five varieties of pharmaceutical chemicals. It annually turns out around 28,000 tons of penincillin, or 60 percent of the world total; 98,000 tons of Vitamin C, of which 54,000 tons are sold abroad, or more than 50 percent of the world total; and 10,000 tons of terramycin, or 65 percent of the total. Meanwhile, the nation also leads the world in manufacturing of doxycycline hydrochloride and cephalosporins.

China is also a major exporter of pharmaceutical chemicals in the world. Last year, it sold abroad US$3.7 billion worth of such products.

Though edging into the forefront of the world pharmaceutical industry, China's pharmaceutical sector is not powerful enough as it is still beset with scattered distribution of production, low standards of research and development, low added value of products and insufficient number of new varieties, according to Cui Bing, secretary-general of the China Import-Export Chamber of Medicine and Health-care Products.

Rough statistics show that there are now in China more than 6,700 pharmaceutical enterprises, and 5,200 of them are smaller plants. Only about 15 percent of the total have obtained certificates of GMP, or good manufacturing practices, which involve a stream of manufacturing regulations initiated in the early 1960s in the United States.

The CPhI 2004 was held from June 15 to 17 at the Shanghai Everbright Convention & Exhibition Center.

Close