According to recent data, China has signed more than 200 "One Belt One Road" cooperation documents with 149 countries and 32 international organizations. In addition, according to the data released by the General Administration of Customs, in the first half of 2022, the total pharmaceutical trade between China and the countries along the "One Belt/One Road" will reach 35.152 billion US dollars, up 1.52% year on year, and the bilateral trade volume will hit a new high in the same period of previous years. Among them, the export volume was 27.235 billion US dollars and the import volume was 7.917 billion US dollars. In fact, in the past five years (2016-2021), the import and export volume of China's pharmaceutical trade in the markets along the "One Belt/One Road" has been growing year by year.
The export volume of traditional Chinese medicine increased by 16.75% year on year
In the first half of this year, the amount of Chinese medicine products exported to the markets along the "One Belt/One Road" was 905 million US dollars, up 16.75% year on year. The highest proportion of the export market share in the subdivided fields is plant extracts, with an export volume of 478 million US dollars, a year-on-year growth of 35.56% and the fastest growth rate.
Different from the year-on-year growth of the export amount of traditional Chinese medicine, from January to June this year, in the field of medical devices, China's total trade with the markets along the "One Belt/One Road" reached 17.481 billion US dollars, of which the export amount was 14.099 billion US dollars, down 1.33% year on year. From the perspective of category breakdown, the export market scale of dental equipment and materials grew fastest, with a year-on-year growth of 27.44%; The proportion of disposable consumables was the largest, with the export volume of US $5.968 billion, up 15.80% year on year.
In the first half of 2022, the export volume of western medicine products along the "One/Belt/One/Road" market decreased by 2.05% year-on-year to US $12.231 billion. Among them, the export of APIs remained strong, with an export volume of 9.328 billion US dollars, a significant increase of 41.19 percentage points year-on-year; The export of Western patent medicines increased steadily by 9.67%, with an export volume of 1.186 billion US dollars; Affected by the decline in the export of COVID-19 vaccine, the export volume of biochemical drugs was US $1.718 billion, down 64.21% year on year.
The performance of the three major export markets is different
According to customs data, South Korea, Vietnam and Italy are the top three markets for China's pharmaceutical trade exports along the "One Belt/One Road", with exports of US $2.865 billion, US $1.736 billion and US $1.688 billion respectively in the first half of this year.
the republic of korea
From January to June this year, the volume of bilateral pharmaceutical trade between China and South Korea hit a new record, reaching 3.753 billion US dollars, up 5.11% year on year. Among them, China's exports to South Korea reached 2.865 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 10.04%; The import volume was USD 888 million, down 8.18% year on year.
From the perspective of the structure of pharmaceutical products, the category of products that China exports most to South Korea is medical devices. In the first half of 2022, the export volume of this field to South Korea was US $1226 million, down 4.29% year on year. Western medicine products took the second place, with an export volume of 1.475 billion US dollars, up 23.96% year on year; Traditional Chinese medicine products accounted for the smallest share of exports to South Korea, with an export volume of US $164 million, up 23.62% year on year.
Vietnam
In the first half of this year, the bilateral pharmaceutical trade volume reached 1.982 billion US dollars, up 17.80% year on year. Among them, China's exports to Vietnam reached 1.736 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 20.28%; The import volume was 247 million US dollars, up 2.88% year on year. From the perspective of trade scale, Vietnam is China's second largest pharmaceutical trading partner along the "One Belt/One Road".
From the perspective of the structure of pharmaceutical products exported, medical devices accounted for the largest proportion. In the first half of the year, the export volume was 867 million US dollars, up 5.69% year on year; The proportion of traditional Chinese medicine was the smallest, with an export volume of 172 million US dollars, a year-on-year decline of 33.29%; The export volume of western medicine was 541 million US dollars, with a year-on-year growth of 30.25%.
Italy
Italy is China's third largest pharmaceutical trade partner along the "One Belt/One Road". In the first half of this year, the bilateral pharmaceutical trade volume was 3.142 billion US dollars, down 1.02% year on year. Among them, China's export to Italy was 1.688 billion US dollars, up 4.01% year on year; The import volume was 1.454 billion US dollars, down 6.28% year on year.
From the perspective of the structure of medical products exported to Italy, western medicine accounted for the largest proportion. In the first half of the year, the export volume of this kind of products was 1 billion US dollars, a significant increase of 48.40% year on year; The export volume of medical devices was 644 million US dollars, down 29.76% year on year; The export market of traditional Chinese medicine was small, only US $44 million, up 10.43% year on year.
Overall, in the first half of this year, despite the repeated COVID-19 epidemic and the severe and complex international environment, the export of some of China's pharmaceutical products showed a trend of ups and downs, but the market demand for products such as APIs and medical devices remained stable, and the export to the markets along the "One Belt/One Road" also continued to grow. At the same time, with the continuous development of China's pharmaceutical innovation, the more cost-effective Chinese innovative drugs and bio analogues in the future also have the opportunity to expand the market along the "One Belt/One Road", and the export structure of China's pharmaceutical products is expected to be further optimized.
