US trade under a cloud, China opens to Indian pharma

NEW DELHI: China is preparing to give swift regulatory approvals to India-manufactured drugs, the head of an Indian export promotion group said, as Beijing looks for new commercial partners ahead of what could be a protracted trade war with the United States.Indian firms are looking to fill gaps in Chinese demand for generic drugs, software, sugar and some varieties of rice, trade officials in New Delhi said.“We do feel that China is receptive at this time and it’s all about making prices competitive,” said a government official involved in the effort to promote trade with China. The official declined to be identified since he is not authorised to speak to the media.No concrete deals have been signed but the outlook for pharmaceutical sales from India is positive, according to officials from both nations. India dominates the world’s generic drugs market, exporting $17.3 billion of drugs in the 2017/18 (April-March) year, including to the United States and the EU. But only 1% of that went to China, the world’s second-largest market for pharmaceuticals, industry data show.Dinesh Dua, chairman of the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil), which falls under India’s trade ministry, told Reuters in an interview that Indian firms could expect to win licences to export to China within six months of application.“We understand internally that Chinese authorities have issued instructions that EU-approved Indian suppliers should be granted the industrial drug licence in an expeditious manner so they can enter the Chinese market within six months,” Dua said.The China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) did not respond to a Reuters’ request for comment. But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said this week that China was moving forward on giving greater market access to Indian drug makers. “The relevant departments have formulated specific measures on promoting China-India pharmaceutical trade cooperation and granting greater access to drugs from India.”

from The Economic Times https://ift.tt/2KSRnaV