SHANGHAI - China has
become the second-largest producer of pharmaceutical
ingredients in the world with an annual output of
800,000 tons, according to sources with the CPhI 2004,
which concluded on Thursday in Shanghai.
CPhI
2004 is a three-day annual international convention on
pharmaceutical ingredients.
China now leads the
world in terms of annual production of five varieties of
pharmaceutical chemicals, industry insiders said.
It annually turns out around 28,000 tons of
penicillin, or 60% of the world total. Likewise, China
produces 98,000 tons, or more than 50% of the world's
total Vitamin C, of which 54,000 tons are sold
abroad.
China also turns out 10,000 tons of
terramycin, or 65% of the total.
It leads the
world in manufacturing of doxycycline hydrochloride and
cephalosporins.
China is also a major exporter
of pharmaceutical chemicals in the world. Last year, it
sold US$3.7 billion worth of such products abroad.
However, China's pharmaceutical sector is not at
its highest potential, still beset with scattered
distribution of production, low standards of research
and development, low added value of and an insufficient
number of new varieties, according to Cui Bing,
secretary-general of the China Import-Export Chamber of
Medicine and Health-care Products.
Rough
statistics show that there are China how houses more
than 6,700 pharmaceutical enterprises, 5,200 of which
are smaller plants.
Only about 15% have obtained
certificates of good manufacturing practices (GMP),
which involve a stream of manufacturing regulations
initiated in the early 1960s in the United States.
The CPhI 2004 was held from June 15 to 17 at the
Shanghai Everbright Convention & Exhibition Center.
(Asia Pulse/XIC)
Jun 19, 2004
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