Beijing, July 13 — Cross-border deals for innovative drugs developed in China reached a record US$110 billion by June 30, capping a first half of 2026 that the country’s pharmaceutical industry is now positioning as a launching pad for artificial-intelligence-driven drug discovery. Speaking at a weekend forum, Lan Gongtao, deputy director general of the Department of Drug Registration at the National Medical Products Administration, disclosed that China accounts for about 30 percent of all new drugs currently under development worldwide, ranking second globally.
Lan stated that the nation’s pharmaceutical sector has risen to the top tier internationally in innovation efficiency.
Record Deal Activity Reflects Global Confidence
In the first six months of 2026, 81 separate deals were sealed by June 30, equaling roughly 80 percent of the total cross-border transactions recorded for all of 2025, according to Chinese state media reports published Monday. These agreements spanned 10 therapeutic areas, including oncology, metabolic diseases, immunology, and neurology—fields that align with the priorities of a global pharmaceutical market hungry for new treatments.
Buyers came from 20 countries and regions, with the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy accounting for the largest share. Lan’s remarks at the forum underscored that China’s innovation efficiency has placed the country in a position to compete directly on the global stage. The breadth of buyer geography signals sustained international confidence in the quality and pipeline strength of China’s drug development ecosystem.
The rapid expansion of China’s pharmaceutical sector is part of a broader transformation that began with economic reforms in 1978, which opened the country to global markets and spurred its shift from an agrarian society to a modern economic powerhouse. Today, China is a major player in global manufacturing and trade, with significant influence in science, technology, and pharmaceuticals.
Its drug industry’s record-breaking deal flow this year reflects that long trajectory of industrial and technological maturation.
AI-Driven Deals Signal Next Phase of Growth
Momentum has continued into July. On July 2, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group signed a new collaboration with AstraZeneca that leverages CSPC’s proprietary AI molecular design platform to jointly discover and develop new drugs.
The CSPC-AstraZeneca agreement is part of a broader pivot across China’s pharmaceutical industry toward AI-powered drug candidates, which industry leaders expect to drive the next wave of cross-border transactions. Lan’s forum comments highlighted that China’s innovation efficiency now enables it to compete at the highest levels of drug development, and AI platforms are increasingly seen as a key differentiator.
With the first half of 2026 already matching 80 percent of the full-year transaction total for 2025, and with July bringing a marquee AI collaboration, the second half of the year could see further records broken as both domestic and international players deepen their engagement with Chinese biotech. The therapeutic areas covered in the 81 deals—oncology, metabolic diseases, immunology, and neurology—remain central to global pharmaceutical priorities, and buyers from major markets such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy indicate that China’s drug pipeline is considered competitive on quality and speed.
Consult your doctor for medical advice.
