On June 15th, a group of global executives, including Lars Rebien S ø rensen, Chairman of the Novo Nordisk Foundation and Novo Nordisk Board of Directors, and Maziar Mike Doustdar, Global President and CEO of Novo Nordisk, visited China. This was the highest level of group visit by Novo Nordisk in recent years.

On the same day, the world's first basic insulin/GLP-1RA weekly preparation, Novogene (Ecoinsulin Simeglutide Injection), was officially approved for sale in China, making China the global first launch site for this innovative drug. The decision to release the world's first new drug in China was not common among multinational pharmaceutical companies before.

Since 2003, Novo Nordisk has invested over 17 billion yuan in the Chinese market. During this visit to China, Novo Nordisk announced an additional 200 million yuan investment in its Tianjin strategic production base to enhance local production capacity. Doustdar has also made it clear that it will increase its BD trading efforts in China.

Novo Nordisk is not an isolated case. Since the beginning of 2026, many global leaders of MNCs such as Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Roche, Novartis, etc. have visited China and successively announced investment plans in China with a scale of billions or even billions.

The policy side is also sending signals. On June 22, the Ministry of Commerce, together with the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance, jointly issued the "Action Plan for Utilizing Foreign Investment to Stabilize and Promote Excellence" (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan"), which further clarifies the institutional arrangements for cross-border segmented production, innovative drugs and equipment being included in commercial insurance, and foreign drugs entering retail channels.

From corporate actions to policy frameworks, various signs indicate that the role positioning of the Chinese market is undergoing a transformation in the MNC strategic landscape. Zhang Xiaohui, Deputy Director of the External Cooperation Department of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Medicines and Health Products, summarized in an interview with Yi Yijun that MNC's development in China has gone through stages such as "channel expansion localized production innovative integration", and it is predicted that by 2026, it will fully enter a new stage of breakthrough development of "deep localization+global cooperation".

Compared with the previous stage, the most fundamental difference in this new stage is that it used to be a 'one-way input', but now it is a 'two-way empowerment'. China is no longer just undertaking production capacity and sales, but has begun to export clinical resources, manufacturing capabilities, and market data, which in turn affects the global decision-making of multinational pharmaceutical companies.

When China transforms from a "big market" to a "co builder" in the global pharmaceutical innovation ecosystem, MNC's current layout is no longer just about commercial expansion, but a redistribution of innovation discourse power.

01、Cross border segmented production system breaks the ice

The most exciting aspect of this' Action Plan 'is the clear support for foreign investment in the high-quality development of industries such as pharmaceuticals, and the urgent research and implementation of detailed rules for segmented drug production, which facilitates overseas drug marketing authorization holders to carry out cross-border segmented production of biological products and chemical drugs.

Once the door of the system is opened, the flow of industries will be rewritten accordingly.

This is a continuation and deepening of the previous series of policies. In October 2024, the National Medical Products Administration released the "Pilot Work Plan for Segmented Production of Biological Products", officially launching the pilot program. In February 2025, the "Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment in 2025" further proposed to promote the orderly opening up of the biopharmaceutical field and support qualified foreign-funded enterprises to participate in the pilot project of segmented production of biological products.
This policy is changing the underlying logic of MNC investment in China. Zhang Xiaohui pointed out that in the past, MNCs often faced a dilemma of "either or" if they wanted to bring drug production to China: either relocate the entire production line to China and bear the pressure of heavy asset investment and long-term returns; Either we can only rely on pure imports and accept high costs and supply chain vulnerabilities caused by geopolitical and tariff fluctuations.

Novo Nordisk has previously explored the production of insulin concentrate overseas and then filling it into small volume injections at its Tianjin factory. However, this model lacks institutional framework and is a case study, making it difficult to replicate on a large scale.

The risks of the pure import model have been exposed in recent trade frictions. The uncertainty of tariff policies continues to exert pressure on supply chains that rely on imports, with some imported drugs experiencing inventory "red lights" and increased difficulty in obtaining prescriptions from doctors due to tariff shocks.

Now, the policy clearly supports cross-border segmented production, which is equivalent to giving the choice and initiative of the global supply chain layout in China back to the enterprises themselves. MNCs can retain high barrier and high value-added links such as cell culture and raw material production overseas according to market conditions, while placing the back-end links with comparative advantages such as purification, formulation filling, and packaging in China, fully utilizing domestic manufacturing capabilities and cost advantages. ”Zhang Xiaohui expressed.
This arrangement not only acknowledges the rationality of global division of labor, but also anchors China's irreplaceable position in the division of labor.

In fact, since the launch of the segmented production pilot, multiple MNCs have taken the lead in testing the waters.  

In May 2025, Roche announced an investment of over 2 billion yuan to build a new biopharmaceutical base in Zhangjiang, Shanghai, for the localized production of the ophthalmic bispecific drug Fariximab. It is expected to start production in 2031.

Fariximab was approved by the National Medical Products Administration at the end of 2023 and will enter the medical insurance in 2024. The price will decrease from 9000 yuan/vial to 3608 yuan, and the demand will surge. Previously, the drug relied on imports, had a long supply chain cycle, and was susceptible to logistics fluctuations. As a pilot project for cross-border segmented production, Roche has been able to bring the high value-added formulation process to China, while keeping the front-end raw material production overseas.

Roche China President Bian Xin stated in an interview that segmented production is a routine practice for global pharmaceutical companies, and the new policy allows them to implement important production processes in China without having to move all processes, thus perfectly combining global innovation power with China's local cost and human resource advantages.

In September 2025, Daiichi Sankyo announced an investment of approximately 1.1 billion yuan to build a new ADC production building in Zhangjiang, Shanghai, for the localized production of its heavyweight product DS-8201 (trastuzumab/Enhertu). As one of the first pilot projects for cross-border segmented production of biological products in China, this project adopts the "imported raw materials, local preparations" model to implement the high value-added preparation process in China. China has become the fourth country in the world to have ADC production facilities, following Japan, the United States, and Germany.

02、Challenge and Expectations: How to "Move from Pilot to Normal" Segmented Production

Cross border segmented production is not only a institutional tool to reduce the burden on MNCs, but its strategic significance for the upgrading of China's pharmaceutical industry cannot be underestimated. As more and more high value-added production processes are implemented, China's position in the global pharmaceutical supply chain is quietly shifting from a "manufacturing workshop" to a "critical node". This change is structural and irreversible, provided that institutional support can keep up with the pace of industrial development.

Zhang Xiaohui pointed out that in the current pilot process of enterprises, the most concentrated difficulty in feedback from enterprises is mainly in the field of quality control.

Biopharmaceuticals are not simply physical mixtures, their technological content and process risk control are upstream. After segmentation, how to ensure quality consistency between the original liquid and the formulation in different sites and enterprises is currently the biggest challenge

For example, the consistency of processes and quality control across multiple sites, the quality assurance of cold chain transportation of raw materials, and the standardization of deviation handling make it difficult to ensure the overall product quality if any link falls off.

At the press conference on June 22, Wang Ya, the head of the Foreign Investment Management Department of the Ministry of Commerce, introduced that the "Action Plan" further proposes multiple measures to address the concerns of foreign-funded pharmaceutical enterprises on the basis of existing policies, including studying and issuing relevant rules to support cross-border segmented production.

The direction of the policy has been clarified, and the key lies in the accuracy of the detailed rules. Regarding the implementation details, Zhang Xiaohui raised four expectations:
One is to clarify the specific operational guidelines for the "Unified Quality Management System", especially for key management procedures such as deviations, changes, and CAPA, which must have executable templates or standards to provide enterprises with detailed rules to follow.

The second is to clarify the division of responsibilities for cross regional supervision, especially in cases of cross provincial or even cross-border situations, who will investigate, how to investigate, and how data will be exchanged, in order to avoid regulatory vacuum or duplicate inspections.

Thirdly, the detailed rules should achieve breakthroughs in the refined supervision of "one product, one policy". For example, the Beijing Food and Drug Administration has developed a "specific variety pilot plan and product quality supervision plan" to guide enterprises in refining quality management strategies and formulating targeted supervision plans when promoting the cross-border segmented production pilot of Johnson&Johnson's Nicalimumab injection.

The fourth is to explore more flexible certification models, such as "joint certification", allowing R&D companies and CDMOs to jointly hold listing permits, clarifying segmented responsibilities, rather than putting all risks on MAH alone.

03、Collaborative Efforts in Payment, Circulation, and Clinical Applications

Cross border segmented production has solved the efficiency problem on the supply side, but drugs ultimately have to return to the simplest question: who will pay the bill? How to reach out? The layout of the Action Plan is not only limited to the production process, but also involves the payment end, circulation end, and clinical end, aiming to build a complete closed loop from research and development to use.

The Action Plan points out that efforts should be made to expedite research and approval to further expand the pilot areas for opening up in the fields of biotechnology and wholly foreign-owned hospitals. Support insurance companies to include more innovative drugs and devices in the scope of commercial insurance coverage, and continue to encourage high-quality innovative drugs and devices to enter the Chinese market.

Zhang Xiaohui pointed out that the biggest pain points faced by MNCs in the Chinese market are concentrated in the "inability to sell at a high price" on the payment side and the "inability to sell" on the circulation side. Foreign innovative drugs entering medical insurance often face significant price pressure. If they do not enter medical insurance, the burden of patients paying out of pocket is also too heavy, leading to the slow commercialization of many high-value innovative drugs in China.

In fact, in the past two years, a series of policies have been introduced around commercial insurance payments, with the most significant impact being last year's commercial insurance innovative drug catalog. However, since its implementation for more than half a year, the commercial insurance catalog has not yet released the expected institutional dividends.

From this year's application situation, a total of 17 drugs have been separately applied for the commercial insurance innovative drug catalog, while 44 drugs have been applied for both the basic catalog and the commercial insurance catalog, totaling 61 drugs, a decrease of more than half compared to the 141 applications in 2025.

In this context, the targeted combination of policies formed from the Action Plan to a series of recent policies is clearly visible.

Zhang Xiaohui pointed out that initial price support provides a pricing buffer period for innovative drugs, so they do not have to be forced to lower prices right after being launched; For the first time, commercial insurance payment has been included in the stable foreign investment system in the form of a special policy, which is equivalent to opening up a "second payment party" for innovative drugs outside of medical insurance; Accelerating the review and approval process and opening up retail channels have respectively improved the efficiency of the front-end and accessibility of the back-end.

The cumulative effect of policies is expected to give rise to a hierarchical access path of "commercial insurance exploration and medical insurance relay". New drugs are first validated in the market through commercial insurance, accumulate real-world data, and form persuasiveness before entering medical insurance. If this path is taken, the cycle of innovative drugs from market launch to large-scale production will be significantly shortened.

Zhang Xiaohui also reminded that the actuarial capacity building of commercial insurance, the sustainability of insurance companies' compensation business, and the connection of the admission process still need to be dismantled and implemented one by one.

04 、from "In China for China" to "Deep Localization+Global Collaboration"

Since the first batch of MNCs entered China in the 1980s, multinational pharmaceutical companies have been developing in China for 40 years, and their roles and strategies have undergone several significant changes.

Zhang Xiaohui summarized that MNC's investment in China has gone through stages such as "channel expansion localized production innovative integration", and by 2026, the development strategy of multinational pharmaceutical companies in China will fully enter a breakthrough development stage of "deep localization+global collaboration".

The most iconic feature of this stage is that China has transformed from a "sales market" for multinational pharmaceutical companies to a "core node of the global supply chain and innovation network", and this upgrade is the result of the driving force of industrial logic.

He pointed out that in the previous "innovation integration period", multinational pharmaceutical companies in China mainly focused on "In China, For China", such as setting up research and development centers in China and putting some early pipelines into clinical practice in China, but the core decision-making power, global supply chain layout, and high value-added links still remained at headquarters or other mature overseas markets.

Now, with the implementation of institutional openness such as segmented production and cross-border data flow, China's production capacity, clinical resources, and payment system are deeply integrated with the global innovation chain. Multinational pharmaceutical companies are beginning to include China as a "must-have" in their global strategy, achieving synchronized global development, application, and listing.

What prompts MNCs to rethink their strategic positioning in the Chinese market is the increasingly heavy research and development costs and the clinical efficiency advantages that China cannot ignore.

The McKinsey research report points out that China's most significant advantage lies in its research and development speed. Due to the parallelized workflow, dense CRO ecosystem, and efficient execution, China's cycle from early discovery to new drug clinical trial application (IND) is 50% to 70% faster than other regions in the world.

In the later stage of research and development, thanks to a large and concentrated patient population, well funded research centers, and increasingly mature clinical capabilities, the recruitment speed of clinical trials in China is usually 2 to 5 times faster than the benchmarks in the United States and the European Union. This structural efficiency has reduced the cost of drug discovery projects in China to one-third to one-half of the global average, and clinical development costs are about 20% to 50% of those in the United States.

The Action Plan further proposes to expand the pilot areas for opening up in the fields of biotechnology and wholly foreign-owned hospitals.

Foreign funded hospitals are, to some extent, natural 'experimental fields' and' display windows' for innovative drugs, "Zhang Xiaohui pointed out. Foreign funded hospitals can serve as real-world data collection and clinical trial bases for innovative drugs, and cooperate with the country's pilot cooperation in opening up biotechnology such as stem cells and gene therapy in free trade zones, forming upstream and downstream synergy. For multinational pharmaceutical companies, this means that their deployment in China can be upgraded from "product input" to "ecological co construction", with a completely different depth of role.

This new positioning will give rise to new cooperation models, such as "two-way authorization". While supporting the export of early innovation assets from Chinese biotech to multinational pharmaceutical companies, we encourage multinational pharmaceutical companies to open up their global R&D pipelines to Chinese partners and form strategic partnerships that share risks and benefits. The language of cooperation is shifting from 'authorization' to 'partnership'.

But Zhang Xiaohui pointed out that in order for "two-way authorization" to truly be implemented, Chinese biotech can no longer be the simple "sales agent" or "clinical CRO" of the past, but should be upgraded to a "joint operator of global innovation".

This requires three abilities: first, global market level clinical development and registration capabilities, the ability to independently promote clinical trials in China and even the Asia Pacific region, and the ability to communicate with regulatory agencies such as FDA and EMA to obtain globally recognized clinical data; The second is the ability to commercialize closed-loop systems, which is not just about laying out channels, but also about integrating diverse payment and access resources such as commercial insurance, retail, and private hospitals to help multinational pharmaceutical companies sell their drugs in China and determine the selling price; The third is the ability to understand and translate technology, truly comprehend the scientific value of pipelines, and even propose new directions for indications expansion or combination therapy based on clinical needs in China and real-world data.

In terms of role positioning, Chinese Biotech needs to transform from an "authorized party" to a "joint developer", and even become a de facto MAH in certain regional markets. The key to achieving this transformation lies in cultivating a composite team that combines international perspectives and local rules. Currently, top biotech companies and traditional pharmaceutical companies undergoing transformation have the greatest potential for development.

If 'two-way authorization' really works, the cooperation logic between Chinese and foreign pharmaceutical companies will undergo a fundamental change, from a 'master apprentice relationship' to a 'partner relationship'. Zhang Xiaohui stated that in the past, multinational pharmaceutical companies authorized mature pipelines to Chinese companies for the Chinese market, and Chinese companies were responsible for "translation" and "selling drugs"; In the future, both parties will jointly invest, bear risks, and share global benefits.

Chinese biotechnology is no longer just a "seller" for license out, but can be licensed into global pipelines, deeply penetrated in China, and even exported to overseas markets in reverse. Under this model, the valuation logic of Chinese pharmaceutical companies will also change, no longer only focusing on domestic sales peaks, but also on the collaborative value of global pipelines. Once the anchor point for valuation is relocated, the coordinate system of the entire industry will change accordingly.

This may be the ultimate significance of this round of MNC China layout. As China transforms from a "market" to a "critical node" and from a "destination" to a "strategic hub", the power map of global pharmaceutical innovation is being redrawn.

Every loosening of the system and every integration of industries is adding a stroke to this new map. Change is gradual, but the direction is determined.

The first Global Conference on "National New Drugs" hosted by Tong Xieyi will be held at the National Convention and Exhibition Center (Shanghai) from July 22 to 24, 2026. The conference benchmarked the J.P. Morgan Conference with the core model of "China Innovation Global Cooperation Shanghai Transactions", bringing together multinational pharmaceutical companies, top investment institutions, regulatory experts, and research pioneers, covering research and development, clinical practice BD、 The entire chain of investment, financing, and overseas expansion.
When the global pharmaceutical industry first turned its attention to Shanghai in such a concentrated manner, this conference was no longer just a meeting. It is a declaration that China is no longer just a follower of innovation, but a participant in reshaping rules. This is a collective debut of Chinese new drugs from "participation" to "leadership", and also the strongest voice that Chinese new drugs have sent to the world.

Reference article: 

1. From "product input" to "ecological co construction", multinational pharmaceutical companies' investment cooperation in China is moving towards deep integration; Medical Economics Report
2. Looking at the investment confidence in the minutes of 29 meetings from 300 million to 1.8 billion US dollars; CCTV News
3. Ministry of Commerce: Support foreign investment in high-quality development of industries such as pharmaceuticals; Science and Technology Daily
4. What are the benefits for innovative pharmaceutical companies in the "loosening" of cross provincial and cross-border segmented production of biological products; First Financial
5. The number of drugs declared in the 2026 commercial insurance innovative drug catalog has decreased by more than half compared to the same period last year, and the problem of implementing the catalog remains to be solved; Daily Economic News