On the afternoon of March 22, Yin Li, Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, met with heads of multinational pharmaceutical companies attending the International Pharmaceutical Innovation Forum 2024 (IPIF 2024). Bi Jingquan, member of the Standing Committee and Vice Chairman of the Economic Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and Executive Vice Chairman of China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), also attended the meeting.

Yin noted that Beijing, a megacity with nearly 22 million permanent residents, is witnessing rising demand for multi-level, diversified, and high-quality healthcare offerings as the city progresses socioeconomically and its population ages. The pharmaceutical and healthcare industry is a key focus of development in Beijing. The city’s rich pool of educational and technological talents, huge market, robust supply of medical services, strong clinical capabilities, and the “two zones” and opening-up policies all present enormous opportunities for the sector. He encouraged multinational pharmaceutical companies to seize the immense opportunities in China’s mega-market, capitalize on Beijing’s abundant resources for the pharmaceutical industry, and expand their investment in the city. Moreover, he called for efforts to enhance cooperation in technological innovation, increase R&D investment, and leverage Beijing’s top-tier innovation ecosystem to generate more innovative outcomes. He encouraged the companies to make use of of Beijing’s favorable opening-up policy to import more products via ports in Beijing, and pioneer innovative drugs and advanced therapies in the city. Beijing will continue to make the business environment more market-oriented, law-based, convenient, and up to international standards, introduce more supportive policies and initiatives for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry, and improve intellectual property protection, so as to create better conditions for pharmaceutical enterprises to grow and flourish.

Daniel O’Day, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Gilead Sciences, and other business leaders delivered speeches, highly appreciating the great progress of Beijing’s medical and healthcare sector and expressing their willingness to deepen cooperation with Beijing, provide more high-quality medical and healthcare products and services, and further contribute to the vision and goals of “Healthy China 2030”.

Municipal leaders Xia Linmao and Jin Wei attended the meeting.

(Written by Fan Junsheng)