context: The PRC launched its first cross country procurement platform: the PRC–ASEAN Medical and Pharmaceutical Regional Procurement Platform on 9 January 2025, in Fangchenggang City. As early as 14 June 2019, President Xi Jinping 习近平 expressed support for establishing an International Medical Open Pilot Zone in Fangchenggang and continuing to promote medical innovation cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. The 'Measures to support Guangxi in becoming a convenient hub for domestic and international market circulation' was also released by the Office of the Central Leading Group for Regional Coordinated Development in March 2024, highlighting plans to develop the Fangchenggang Medical Open Pilot Zone and advance bio-pharmaceutical industry cooperation with member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and ASEAN.
The launch of the procurement platform marks a significant step forward in pharmaceutical procurement cooperation between the PRC and ASEAN countries, promising to create broader opportunities for collaboration in pharmaceutical markets, contends Shi Zihai 施子海 NHSA (National Healthcare Security Administration) deputy director.
The launch invited officials from NHSA and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, along with experts and pharmaceutical company representatives from ASEAN countries including Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia.
The PRC–ASEAN Medical and Pharmaceutical Regional Procurement Platform, launched in August 2024, has garnered significant attention as a key initiative for expanding the PRC's pharmaceutical reach internationally. According to local healthcare security officials in Fangchenggang, the platform established three functional positions, three development paths and four specific implementation routes for international expansion.
The platform's three functional positions are
- supporting high-quality development of Fangchenggang's International Medical Open Pilot Zone
- facilitating Guangxi's development as a hub for domestic and international market circulation
- leveraging Guangxi's unique advantages to strengthen PRC–ASEAN community relations
The three development paths include
- a hub for advanced medical technology application, talent training and bilateral exchange of medical products
- driving innovation in healthcare and pharmaceutical industries
- establishing efficient cross-border logistics services for medical supplies to ASEAN countries
NHSA outlined four areas for international expansion
- standardisation
- service demonstrations
- production capacity
- medical supplies
The platform integrates comprehensive management functions from procurement to settlement and operates alongside the ‘Guangxi Healthcare Cloud Platform+N’ system, providing convenient online pharmaceutical services for both domestic and international patients.
Guangxi will leverage its proximity to ASEAN to develop the platform into an international procurement hub featuring regulatory alignment, technical sharing, trade facilitation and talent exchange, explains Liao Pinhu 廖品琥 Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region vice chair.
ASEAN is emerging as a new goldmine for China's pharmaceutical industry. According to PwC, Chinese companies' direct investment in Southeast Asian healthcare markets totalled over USD$66.19 bn over eight years. The number of transactions increased from an average of three per year during 2015-2017 to nine per year during 2021-2023, whilst transaction values rose from USD$533 million in 2015 to USD$1.596 bn in 2022.
Taking Indonesia, the region's largest economy, as an example, more than ten Chinese companies, including CanSino Biologics, Innovent Biologics, Walvax Biotechnology, Mindray Medical, and Sinovac Biotech, have ventured into the market. Their investments span vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and immunological testing reagents.