China Likely to be 3rd Biggest Drug Market Worldwide

The Chinese pharmaceutical market is expected to reach USD 134 billion in 2011, accounting for 15 percent of the global market and turning into the third largest pharmaceutical market worldwide, according to a head of the southern pharmaceutical economy research institute under China's State Food and Drug Administration.

The Chinese pharmaceutical market will come to CNY 755.6 billion and the country's pharmaceutical industry output value will stand at around CNY 1.26 trillion this year, and the two figures are up by 22 percent and 25 percent over a year earlier respectively.

The Chinese pharmaceutical market will grow by 24 percent to CNY 938.8 billion and the pharmaceutical industry output value will expand by 23 percent to about CNY 1.55 trillion next year.

The Chinese economy will maintain rapid increase in the coming decade and the government will pour more money into medicare. Moreover, the aging population will drive up the demands for medical services, and the medical care system covering the entire people and increasingly rising reimbursement will step up the demands for medical treatment in rural areas, says the head of the institute.