The 2026 National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), collectively known as the "Two Sessions," have commenced, with the pharmaceutical industry emerging as a major focus for proposals due to its critical role in the national economy and public livelihood. Aligned with the "Healthy China" strategy, delegates and members concentrated on key issues such as the global expansion of innovative drugs, the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and elderly care services, putting forward numerous forward-looking and constructive suggestions aimed at steering the industry towards a new phase of high-quality development.
NPC deputy Zhao Jing, who is also Vice Chairwoman of the board at Buchang Pharmaceutical, stated that the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the entire TCM chain is an industry trend. She noted that the TCM sector has entered a new stage of high-quality development and is poised for comprehensive upgrades during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period. Promoting AI integration aims to rebuild a new cultural ecosystem, revitalize the wisdom of ancient texts, and enhance international influence. She proposed that, for research and development, support should be given to build large-scale TCM model innovation platforms to shorten new drug development cycles. Digital traceability and quality control should be implemented across the entire industrial chain. Intelligent transformation should be promoted in production and processing. For the circulation segment, an "AI + blockchain" smart logistics ecosystem should be established, featuring a nationwide unified traceability big data system to ensure full-chain transparency. Additionally, cross-border logistics services should be optimized, and AI-powered multilingual adaptation modules developed to facilitate TCM's global expansion.
CPPCC member Ding Lieming, who is also Chairman of the board at Beta Pharma, shared his insights on the development of China's biopharmaceutical industry. Through research, he found that the industry's capacity for original innovation urgently needs breakthroughs, with companies demonstrating low R&D investment intensity and high dependence on imported high-end scientific instruments. Funding remains a critical bottleneck, and market access faces obstacles in the "last mile." To address these issues, Ding put forward three proposals at the Two Sessions: optimizing investment and financing mechanisms, removing market access barriers, and supporting deeper integration of industry, academia, research, and application. Regarding the future, Ding expressed encouragement by the record-high total value and number of out-licensing deals for Chinese innovative drugs in 2025, but also acknowledged the gap between Chinese pharmaceutical companies and global leaders. He expressed hope for more disruptive technologies led by Chinese scientists and the emergence of world-class biopharmaceutical innovation enterprises.
NPC deputy Xu Haoyu, who serves as Party Secretary, Chairman, and President of Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Group, noted in his research that while the scale of the Chinese herbal medicine industry continues to expand, cultivation standards are improving, and traceability system construction has made positive progress, problems such as excessive pesticide residues and adulteration still occur. He suggested that a number of national-level, regional smart ecological planting comprehensive demonstration zones should be established with high standards and systematic planning across the seven major genuine medicinal material production areas in China, to lead the way in standardized cultivation and processing. High-quality development of the industry requires strengthened systemic coordination, enhanced protection and innovation of germplasm resources, accelerated promotion of smart ecological planting models, and improved primary and deep processing facilities along with storage and logistics infrastructure in production areas. Simultaneously, a full-chain quality credit grading evaluation and regulatory linkage should be strengthened. A nationwide integrated quality credit archive database for market entities in the Chinese herbal medicine sector should be established, alongside robust mechanisms for rewarding trustworthiness and penalizing失信行为, ensuring farmers' income while providing solid support for the industrialized, modernized, and sustainable development of TCM and comprehensive rural revitalization.
NPC deputy Li Yan, President of Qilu Pharmaceutical, pointed out that while the state has strengthened age-friendly adaptations in medical institutions, policy implementation has shortcomings, such as insufficient hospital modifications and poor coordination mechanisms among medical care, pharmaceuticals, and rehabilitation. She recommended improving regulatory coordination mechanisms to strengthen the quality defense line for elderly health services and guiding hospitals to promote the adaptation of digital technologies for the elderly. An integrated "medical-pharmaceutical-rehabilitation" closed-loop system should be built to enhance the continuity of elderly health services, advancing the construction of "Elderly Health Service Medico-Care Consortia" to achieve information sharing. In terms of industrial synergy, the supply and suitability of age-friendly medicines and medical devices should be improved, with strengthened collaboration between regulators and pharmaceutical companies and the establishment of对接 platforms. Regarding end-of-life care, the capacity for palliative care services should be made a key evaluation metric for age-friendly medical institutions, with palliative care wards普遍设立 in hospitals above the secondary level. Professional talent cultivation should be enhanced, exploration into inclusion within medical insurance payment should be conducted, and participation from social forces should be encouraged.
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