Authored by:Huang Jianwen Zhang Yu Liang Xiaoyan
This article is contributed by Ms. HUANG Jianwen, who was invited by The Legal 500 as the exclusive contributor of the Healthcare & Life Sciences: PRC Firms Focus On feature for China.
In recent years, China’s healthcare and pharmaceutical industry has continuously introduced various incentive policies to optimize the environment for foreign investment. Under the dual stimulation of the internal market and policies, China’s healthcare and pharmaceutical industry has achieved rapid development. In 2022, China ranked among the top in the world in terms of active pharmaceutical transactions, with the total transaction value reaching 34.6 billion USD, up by 10% year-on-year.
This article reviews the new regulations and policies in China’s healthcare and pharmaceutical industries in recent years from five aspects: (1) Reform of the regulatory system of drugs and medical devices in China; (2) Addition of new entries of the pharmaceutical industry to the Catalogue of Encouraged Foreign Investment Industries (鼓励外商投资产业目录); (3) New regulations on online drug sales; (4) Implementation of Internet hospital supervision policies; and (5) Allowance of Hong Kong and Macao MAHs (as defined below) to entrust cross-border production.