China Aims for 25% of Global First-in-Class Drugs by 2030

• China’s five-year pharmaceutical plan, published Sept. 18, sets 2030 targets of at least 25% of the global first-in-class drug total, at least 20% average annual growth in innovative drugs, and 3.5 trillion yuan ($522 billion) in combined revenue for major drugmakers
• NMPA Deputy Commissioner Yang Sheng said Sept. 20 that regulators will build clinical-trial data protection, set market exclusivity periods for pediatric and rare-disease drugs, and support smart and green factories

China released a five-year pharmaceutical industry plan on Friday that sets quantified 2030 targets for innovative drugs, company scale and global sales. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and other agencies issued the plan, which covers 2026 to 2030 and aims to move the sector from volume toward innovation.

The plan sets several targets for 2030:

• Combined revenue above 3.5 trillion yuan for major pharmaceutical enterprises
• 50 companies with annual revenue above 10 billion yuan
• At least five products with global annual sales above $1 billion
• Average annual growth of more than 20% in the innovative drug industry

The plan sets a goal of having 20 pharmaceutical industrial parks with annual output of at least 100 billion yuan by the end of the 2026-30 period, Global Times reported.

The first-in-class target is the headline number, and it comes with two caveats. The South China Morning Post noted that first-in-class is not a formal regulatory category, and that the previous plan, released in December 2021, had no quantifiable indicators for innovative drugs.

The starting point is already sizable. Xinhua reported that China approved 38 innovative drugs in the first half of this year, 31 of them domestically developed, and had 4,751 innovative drugs in the pipeline at the end of 2025, one third of the global total, adding that the value of overseas licensing deals for Chinese innovative drugs has passed $120 billion this year, up 36% year on year. The South China Morning Post attributed that figure to NMPA data. At a Sunday press conference, Yang said China has approved 59 innovative drugs and 51 innovative medical devices so far this year, China.org.cn reported. The outlet added that 2025’s 76 innovative drug approvals were a record.

Yang also outlined the regulatory side. Authorities will build a clinical-trial data protection system and set market exclusivity periods for pediatric and rare-disease medicines. They will strengthen early-stage consultation with drugmakers, particularly for products involving new targets and mechanisms. For medicines in urgent clinical demand, regulators plan to shorten review timelines and expand fast-track testing channels.

The government will support pharma companies in scaling up and moving up the value chain, encourage smart and green factories, and foster three to five internationally competitive biomedical clusters. Those clusters would sit in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Chengdu-Chongqing zone. China also plans to upgrade generic drugs through advanced technologies and manufacturing processes, and open the sector further to foreign investment, including in domestic production of originator drugs. The plan encourages Chinese companies to set up R&D centers, manufacturing bases, and sales networks abroad, and calls for aligning domestic and international standards.