On the afternoon of December 2, Yin Li, Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, met with Frédéric Oudéa, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Paul Hudson, Chief Executive Officer, of French pharmaceutical company Sanofi.
Yin Li expressed appreciation for Sanofi’s long-standing optimism about China’s growth and its continuous investment in Beijing. He noted that the growing ties between China and France provide a strong foundation for enhanced practical cooperation. He said that the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee highlighted the need to improve policy support for industries such as biomedicine and to further open up the healthcare sector, which will create new opportunities for both domestic and international pharmaceutical companies. Beijing, with its vast pharmaceutical and healthcare market, boasts a strong edge in innovation in the pharmaceutical sector and offers a range of favorable policies. This year, the city rolled out 32 new measures to support the development of innovative medicines, helping both domestic and foreign pharmaceutical companies engage in related innovation, said Yin. He highlighted Beijing’s commitment to deepening its cooperation with Sanofi and sharing greater development results. Yin encouraged Sanofi to accelerate its project development in Beijing and introduce more new medicines to share the opportunities presented by China’s vast healthcare market. The group is encouraged to strengthen collaboration with Beijing’s pharmaceutical companies, research institutions, and clinical trial organizations, as well as deepen cross-sector cooperation in artificial intelligence to jointly explore new industry opportunities. Yin hoped that Sanofi will fully leverage its role in promoting exchanges and interactions between China and France across various sectors. He said that Beijing will continue to foster a market-oriented, law-based, and accessible business climate in keeping with international standards, ensuring high-quality services for companies in the city.
Oudéa stated that Sanofi was one of the first multinational companies to enter China in the early days of reform and opening-up and the company has witnessed Beijing’s outstanding achievements in optimizing its innovation and business environment over the past years. He underscored Sanofi’s readiness to further explore the markets in Beijing and in China as a whole, increase investment in the city, and enhance collaboration in pharmaceutical innovation. He also expressed willingness to introduce more high-quality innovative medicines and jointly make greater contribution to people’s health and well-being.
Following the meeting, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, and the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (BDA) signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation with Sanofi (China). Sanofi will invest approximately €1 billion to establish a new insulin production base in the BDA, focusing on meeting the demand of local diabetic patients. This facility marks the first biologic active pharmaceutical ingredient production base established by a multinational pharmaceutical company in China, and represents Sanofi’s largest single investment in the country.
Beijing municipal leaders Jin Wei and Zhao Lei attended the meeting.
(Written by Fan Junsheng)
