China's pharma industry represents 5% of the world total. By 2010, China is expected to become the world's fifth largest pharmaceutical market.

Biotechnology is definitely a hot topic in China—the country's administrators recently identified it as a "cornerstone of China's national economy by 2020." But most realize that getting there will require a better trained, specialized workforce than currently exists. The Chinese government has been pumping money into life sciences education as part of its plan to achieve a global biotechnological presence over the next 15 years.

In 2006, China exported a total of $890 million in biologics to other countries—a 30.61% increase, compared with the previous year.

Most Chinese biopharmaceuticals are relatively small and there are not enough of them to sustain a robust services sector.

In China, the presence of a substantial biogenerics industry reflects a growing need to provide healthcare to domestic populations, at a reasonable cost.

China's central government is aware of the need to improve intellectual property protection and enforcement.

The Chinese vaccine market competition is now transferring from the former price-competition model to a technology- competition model.

The Chinese government's investments in the biopharmaceutical sector may help it become one of the leading industries in China by 2020.

China today represents a $15-billion market for pharmaceutical products. China's pharmaceutical industry has been expanding at about 20% over the past five years. It has been predicted that China will become the world's fifth largest single pharmaceutical market by 2010. With such a fast-growing market segment and a huge population, simply getting pharmaceuticals to the patients and healthcare providers is becoming a daunting task. Biopharmaceuticals distributers face the same challenge, with the added complications associated with cold-chain management, shelf-life, and product stability.