Although Chinese patent medicines still have no status as drugs during the transitional period of the bill, they are still sold in the existing form. However, in order to successfully land in Europe as soon as possible, Chinese patent medicine manufacturing and trading enterprises in Beijing have been warming up since the bill came into effect, increasing export volume and actively preparing for market development.
According to the statistics of Beijing Customs, from January to April this year, Beijing exported 8.6 tons of Chinese patent medicines to the European Union, with a value of US$ 33,, down by 2.9% and 4% respectively compared with the same period last year. In the past six months (May-October) since the implementation of the Act, the export value reached 2.1 tons and 165, US dollars respectively, increasing by 59.7% and 87.5% respectively. Due to the strong pull from May to October, the export of Chinese patent medicines to the EU increased by 33.9% and 38.5% respectively from January to October this year, exceeding the overall increase of 11.7 and 17.2 percentage points in the export value of Chinese patent medicines in Beijing.
It can be seen that the promulgation of the European Union's Law on Traditional Medicines has played a strong role in promoting the recent sharp increase in the sales of Beijing proprietary Chinese medicines in EU countries. Once the identity of Chinese patent medicine is confirmed in the EU, the price of Chinese patent medicine in the EU market will rise sharply, which undoubtedly stimulates the confidence of pharmaceutical manufacturing industry to enter the European market.
Although the export volume of Beijing's proprietary Chinese medicines to EU countries has increased rapidly recently, the EU's share in the total export volume of Beijing's proprietary Chinese medicines is still small. Data show that from January to October this year, Beijing exported 867 tons of Chinese patent medicines to the world, with a value of 16.36 million US dollars, while EU countries only accounted for 3.3% and 1.2% of them. Asia is still the largest export market, with exports of 637 tons, up 6.3%, accounting for 74% of the total. There are still many difficulties for Chinese patent medicines to go to Europe and meet the requirements stipulated in the Law on Traditional Medicines:
First, EU countries lack the cultural background of Chinese medicine. Unlike Hongkong, Japan, South Korea and other countries or regions, European Union countries are deeply influenced by China's traditional culture. It is only because of the increasing number of Chinese working and studying in European Union countries that the use of Chinese patent medicines has been brought to Europe. Therefore, the development foundation of traditional Chinese medicine in the EU is weak.
second, it is difficult for Chinese patent medicines to obtain "legal" status generally at present. Due to the influence of modern western medical background, Chinese patent medicine manufacturers can successfully register their products in Europe and obtain the legal "identity" of drugs only if they pass the review of GMP (Quality Management Guidelines for Pharmaceutical Production) of the European Union. Otherwise, it can only appear in the form of health care products, food or food supplements. For some small and medium-sized manufacturers engaged in export trade of Chinese patent medicines in Beijing, it is still difficult to pass the EU GMP review. Therefore, manufacturers are more willing to choose countries or regions with less export constraints as the main export targets.
Third, it is difficult to form the EU standard drug test report for compound Chinese patent medicines. Most Chinese patent medicines are compound Chinese medicines, which are often made up of more than a dozen ingredients and then processed by "detoxification and synergism". It is almost impossible to quantify the efficacy of each ingredient and form a drug test report by using scientific experiments of western medicine, which makes the compound Chinese patent medicines enter the EU again.
Take Tongrentang Group, a large exporter of Chinese patent medicines in Beijing, as an example. Although it is also making great efforts to develop simple Chinese patent medicines, it still mainly exports compound Chinese patent medicines as a whole. Due to the drug inspection system in the European Union, it is difficult for merchants to shift their export focus to the EU in the short term, thus making Beijing's export share of proprietary Chinese medicines to the EU still small.
Fourth, international competition will curb the export growth of Chinese patent medicines. At present, Chinese patent medicine has spread all over the world. While recognizing the efficacy of Chinese patent medicine, western countries have also seen the rich profits of Chinese patent medicine. Therefore, some foreign pharmaceutical companies have begun to invest in the research and development of proprietary Chinese medicines, and applied for patents internationally, which has brought great impact to the research and development of proprietary Chinese medicines in China and further curbed the export of proprietary Chinese medicines.
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China's traditional Chinese medicine exports can reach 7 million US dollars this year
According to the news from the Chinese Medicine Department of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Medicines and Health Products, China's traditional Chinese medicine exports have grown rapidly since 24, with the total export of traditional Chinese medicine exceeding 5 million US dollars in the first three quarters, up 18.23% year-on-year, which is the fastest growth period since the Asian financial crisis.
According to Liu Zhanglin, director of Chinese Medicine Department of Medical Insurance Chamber of Commerce, in the first three quarters of 24, the export of deep-processed and high value-added Chinese medicines grew well, among which the export of plant extracts grew the fastest, reaching US$ 162 million, up 35.91% year-on-year, accounting for 31.76% of the total export of Chinese medicines. The export of Chinese herbal medicines was US$ 251 million, up 13.77% year-on-year; The export of Chinese patent medicines was US$ 97.4 million, a year-on-year increase of 6%. Asia is still the largest market for Chinese traditional medicine exports, and Chinese traditional medicine exports to Asia, North America and Europe account for 66.8%, 14.56% and 14.46% of China's total Chinese traditional medicine exports respectively. Exports to South America, Africa and Oceania only account for 4.9% of China's total exports of traditional Chinese medicine.
Based on the analysis of the export situation of plant extracts, Liu Zhanglin believes that the sustained and rapid growth of the world market demand for plant medicines, the market growth of Japanese Chinese medicines, Korean medicines and the advance of production lines are the two main reasons for the rapid growth of China's export of plant extracts. In addition, China's export of plant extracts to all continents has increased greatly. The United States is still the largest export market of plant extracts in China. From January to September, the export to the United States reached 5.36 million US dollars, up 18.54% year-on-year, accounting for 31.12% of the total export of plant extracts in China. China's export growth rate of plant extracts to Europe, South America and Oceania is above 4%. The absolute value of China's export of plant extracts to Africa is still small, with the export value of US$ 1.37 million in the first nine months, up by 28.33% year-on-year. Exports to North America reached US$ 51.97 million, up 19.14% year-on-year.
The export performance of proprietary Chinese medicines is still not very good. One of the important factors is that the implementation of the EU traditional medicine registration directive has had a certain impact on the export of proprietary Chinese medicines in China. From January to September, China exported 8.2 million US dollars of Chinese patent medicines to Europe, down 13.34% year-on-year. China's export of proprietary Chinese medicines to other markets has increased to a certain extent. Asia is the main market for China's export of proprietary Chinese medicines. From January to September, the export to Asia reached 7.66 million US dollars, up 3.95% year-on-year, accounting for 72.82% of China's total export of proprietary Chinese medicines. North America is the second largest market for Chinese patent medicine exports. From January to September, the export to North America was US$ 8.51 million, up 11.71% year-on-year. Although the absolute value of exports to Africa, Oceania and South America is not large, they have all experienced rapid growth.
from the analysis of countries and regions, due to the initial achievements in the construction of "Chinese medicine port" in Hong Kong and various factors, China's exports of proprietary Chinese medicines to Hong Kong, the largest export market, grew rapidly, reaching 33.42 million US dollars from January to September, up 3.2% year-on-year. The export of proprietary Chinese medicines to Japan ranked second, with the export of * * * to Japan from January to September reaching US$ 16.99 million, a year-on-year increase of 1.41%.
The export situation of Chinese herbal medicines is good, with the total export volume in the first nine months reaching 167,574 tons, up by 3.28% year-on-year; Total exports increased by 13.77%; The average unit price increased from $1,4 to $1,5 per ton, an increase of 1.15%. Asia is still the main market for Chinese herbal medicine export. From January to September, the export to Asia reached US$ 24 million, up 13.62% year-on-year, accounting for 81.86% of the total export of Chinese herbal medicine. Among them, the export to Hong Kong surpassed that of Japan, with an export value of US$ 67.12 million, up 59.7% year-on-year, accounting for 26.77% of the total export of Chinese herbal medicines. Exports to Japan reached 58.23 million US dollars, up 3.35% year-on-year, accounting for 23.21% of China's total exports of Chinese herbal medicines.