'New new three' power China's trade

While AI and robotics exports primarily involve products and system-based services, the innovative pharmaceutical sector is increasingly characterized by the export of patents and foundational research capabilities. In the first half, 31 domestically produced innovative drugs were approved for market launch nationwide.

Two originated from the medicine port in Hangzhou's Qiantang New Area, a compact hub that has gathered over 300 innovative pharmaceutical companies over the past 10 years. Notably, even before achieving commercial sales, some pharmaceutical companies have already generated overseas revenue through drug patent licensing.

Qian Lili, chairwoman of I-Mab Biopharma, recalled that 10 years ago, Chinese firms had to wait for products to be launched abroad before introducing them domestically.

"Currently, we are out-licensing the rights of our self-developed products to overseas companies," Qian said.

This year, the company completed a business development transaction with US company Biogen for a self-developed anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody, with a total deal value of $850 million and an upfront payment of $100 million. Such deals allow domestic pharmaceutical companies to jointly advance research and development and sales with global partners, becoming a crucial pathway to enter the international market.

In the first half, the total value of China's out-licensing transactions for innovative drugs exceeded $100 billion, setting a historical record and pushing the industry's scale to the second largest globally.

Behind this success is a significant reduction in core material costs. The price of domestically developed cell culture media — essential for biopharmaceuticals — is now only one-quarter of what it used to be. This continuous reduction in raw material costs, optimized processes and sustained basic research have accelerated the global expansion of innovative drugs.

Accelerated R&D and faster regulatory approvals have enabled domestic innovative drugs to get to market quickly, benefiting domestic patients earlier.

Shen Lin, vice-president of Peking University Cancer Hospital, said doctors feel much more confident as R&D speed has significantly increased.

Liu Guoen, dean of the Peking University Institute for Global Health and Development, views this explosive growth as the inevitable result of decades of long-term accumulation, and expects that going global will remain the biggest highlight on China's path of innovation.

According to industry surveys, many professionals have been somewhat surprised by the rapid development of many sectors. Longstanding optical fiber manufacturers did not anticipate the sudden AI demand surge, robotics companies did not foresee the sheer volume of customized global requests, and innovative drug practitioners never imagined established overseas pharmaceutical giants would actively seek R&D collaborations from Chinese partners.

The overarching consensus is that the "new new three" represent a new systemic capability cultivated through decades of exploration in Chinese manufacturing, marking a qualitative upgrade of China's industrial logic heading into the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30).

Hao Jianbin, a researcher at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, pointed out this transition embodies a comprehensive iteration of China's comparative advantages in foreign trade.

Hao said the growth driver has shifted from supply chain scale to original innovation, competing on foundational technology. Furthermore, patterns have diversified from physical goods to a composite trade of goods and knowledge-centric services, raising the ceiling of foreign trade added value. China's position in the global division of labor is also moving upward, directly targeting global frontier sectors.

Additionally, the international cooperation model has shifted from one-way outbound sales to two-way global collaborative innovation. Transnational open-source collaboration in AI and cross-border joint R&D in innovative drugs have become the new norms, demonstrating stronger resilience and adaptability to diverse global needs.

Zhao Lijin, deputy director of the Market Research Department at the CCPIT Academy, concluded that the progression to the "new new three" export product categories demonstrates China's export overseas sales structure is continuously moving toward newer, higher-quality frontiers.

With core advantages shifting to independent, source innovation aspects, more golden ideas from laboratories are accelerating their transformation into golden keys for development, Zhao said.

renqi@chinadaily.com.cn