‘Major breakthroughs’: Chinese biotech firms plan global expansions after domestic success

With their domestic profits narrowing and production capacity expanding, China’s firms are continuing to widen their overseas footprints in search of new, more lucrative markets. In this series, we examine China Inc.’s next phase of “going global” and the complex, challenging international environment its companies have chosen to enter.

Chinese biotech companies are expected to make major international advances over the next decade, industry leaders said, but cautioned that weak patent portfolios and protectionist measures in foreign countries may hinder this progress.

As the sector’s manufacturing base and supply chain strengthen and the global appetite for biotechnology continues to grow, building an overseas presence appears to be the next step for firms looking to make their mark.

“A lot of our overseas clients have repeatedly told us they want our supply chain and manufacturing to be closer to their markets,” said Guo Henghua, president of Anhui Huaheng Biotechnology, adding that orders from overseas account for about half the company’s total sales.

“I believe that in the next five to eight years – and certainly within 10 – Chinese companies will see major breakthroughs in expanding abroad and in building regionally integrated manufacturing and supply systems,” she said during a panel discussion at the sixth Bio-Manufacturing Industrial Conference in Shenzhen earlier this month.

The state-owned newspaper Economic Daily reported that He Yaqiong, director of the consumer goods department at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told a biomanufacturing forum in September that China now accounted for more than 70 per cent of global fermentation capacity, a key midstream segment of the industry.

South China Morning Post