Ding Lieming, chairman of Betta Pharmaceuticals. [Photo provided to Tide News]

Ding Lieming, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of Betta Pharmaceuticals, has been focusing on building an internationally competitive biopharmaceutical innovation ecosystem in China.

Over the past year, Ding has conducted field research in Hainan, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and other regions. By visiting universities, research institutes, and pharmaceutical companies, he examined challenges faced across the innovation drug pipeline, including research and development, market entry, hospital adoption, and payment mechanisms.

In his view, the key gap between China's biopharmaceutical sector and global leaders lies in internationalization. Many Chinese pharmaceutical companies still rely primarily on the domestic market. Although China is the world's second-largest pharmaceutical market, it accounts for only about 10 percent of the global market.

Ding said bridging the gap requires improvements across multiple areas, including research capabilities, capital strength, talent development, and global operational capacity. Chinese firms still face objective differences compared with major pharmaceutical companies in Europe and the United States.

Despite the challenges, Ding remains optimistic about the sector's prospects. In 2025, the total value of overseas licensing deals for China-developed innovative drugs exceeded $130 billion, a record high.

The figure indicates that China's biopharmaceutical research capabilities and innovation ecosystem are improving rapidly, Ding said, adding that more multinational pharmaceutical companies are turning their attention to China.