Analysis of The Development History, Relevant Policies and Upstream Situation of China’s Pharmaceutical Intermediates Industry in 2025

Pharmaceutical intermediates include general and customized products. According to the different stages of outsourcing services, the customized business model of intermediates can generally be divided into CRO (contract research and development outsourcing) and CMO (contract manufacturing outsourcing). The CDMO model (production research and development outsourcing) came into being. CDMO requires customized production companies to participate in the customer's research and development process, provide process improvements or optimizations for customers, achieve high-quality large-scale production, and reduce production costs. Compared with the CMO model, it has a higher profit margin.

After more than 30 years of steady development, the pharmaceutical intermediates industry in my country has basically matched the chemical raw materials and intermediates needed for pharmaceutical production. Only a small number of high-end intermediates with complex synthesis technologies need to be imported. Moreover, since my country has relatively abundant resources and relatively low raw material prices, many intermediates are currently exported in large quantities.

Data source: public information, compiled by China Economics Industry Research Institute

This article is excerpted from the "2023 China Pharmaceutical Intermediates Development Prospects, Global Pharmaceutical Intermediates Industry Transfer to Asia" released by China Economics Industry Research Institute. If you need to obtain the full text, you can search and view it on China Economics Intelligence Network.

In recent years, the pharmaceutical intermediates industry in China has received high attention from governments at all levels and key support from national industrial policies. The country has successively issued a number of policies to encourage the development and innovation of the pharmaceutical intermediates industry. The industrial policy provides a clear and broad market prospect for the development of the pharmaceutical intermediates industry and provides a good production and operation environment for enterprises.

Data source: various government portals, compiled by China Economic Industry Research Institute

The level of national health care consumption is still steadily increasing, mainly because my country's economy continues to develop in a positive direction, people's lives are getting richer, and their consumption capacity and consumption level are steadily increasing, so naturally people's health awareness is also strengthened. The strengthening of people's health awareness and the enhancement of their economic capacity will help the development of the pharmaceutical intermediates industry. According to the data, the per capita health care expenditure of Chinese residents has shown an upward trend year by year, and the per capita health care expenditure of Chinese residents will be 2,120 yuan in 2022.

Data source: National Bureau of Statistics, compiled by China Economic Industry Research Institute

The upstream raw materials of pharmaceutical intermediates are mainly basic chemical raw materials. According to the data, the output of major upstream raw materials of pharmaceutical intermediates in China has been increasing year by year. In 2022, China's sulfuric acid output was 109.37 million tons, caustic soda output was 39.805 million tons, and polysilicon output was 850,000 tons.

Data source: National Bureau of Statistics, compiled by China Economic Industry Research Institute

In order to help enterprises, scientific research, investment institutions and other units understand the development status and future trends of the pharmaceutical intermediates industry, China Economic Industry Research Institute has launched the "2025-2031 China Pharmaceutical Intermediates Industry Market In-depth Research and Investment Planning Recommendations Report". This report is a long-term follow-up study of the pharmaceutical intermediates industry by the research team of China Economic Industry Research Institute. It uses a combination of desktop research, quantitative surveys and qualitative analysis to comprehensively interpret the current market development status, upstream and downstream industries, competitive landscape and key enterprises of the pharmaceutical intermediates industry. Related factors; scientifically use research models, evaluate the industry investment risks in multiple dimensions, and then carefully study and compile.