From November 5th to 10th, the 4th China International Import Expo was held in Shanghai.
It is reported that this year's Expo attracted nearly 3,000 exhibitors from 127 countries and regions, the number of countries and enterprises exceeded the previous session, the total exhibition area was 366,000 square meters, and the world's top 500 companies and industry leading enterprises had a return rate of more than 80%.
As a global biopharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca has been in China since 1993 and has participated in the Expo many times. For example, last year, at the third CIIE, AstraZeneca signed investment agreements with the governments of Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Chengdu to establish regional headquarters in the local area. AstraZeneca also signed an agreement with the Government of Jing'an District in Shanghai to upgrade Shanghai's R&D platform and establish AstraZeneca's Global R&D China Center, which was officially opened in October this year.
During the Expo, Wang Lei, global executive vice president of AstraZeneca and president of international business and China, was interviewed by the Beijing News Shell financial reporter.
Photo note: Wang Lei, Executive Vice President of AstraZeneca Worldwide and President of International Business and China
Beijing News Shell Finance: AstraZeneca is the first time to participate in the Expo? How does it feel?
Wang Lei: This year is the fourth consecutive year that AstraZeneca has participated in the Expo, building a 1,000-square-meter main booth and a 100-square-meter regional biomedical industry cooperation booth, which is one of the largest booths in the medical device and healthcare exhibition area.
This year, AstraZeneca's main booth will show the development achievements of AstraZeneca in China for 28 years with the theme of "Setting Sail for a New Pattern and Building a New Ecology Together", and will for the first time unite cross-border partners such as government, industry, academia, research, medicine and investment to jointly display a multi-level health innovation ecosystem.
In the past three years, AstraZeneca has introduced a number of innovative drugs such as Fulushi, Fanfushu, Rosasutha, Lingzeshu and so on through the Expo stage to benefit Chinese patients; it has also carried the stage of the Expo to communicate with partners from all walks of life and reached a number of blockbuster contracts and cooperation.
Beijing News Shell Finance: For AstraZeneca, what is the significance of participating in the Expo?
Wang Lei: For AstraZeneca, the Expo is not only a finishing point for displaying achievements, but also a new starting point for discussing cooperation. As a multinational pharmaceutical company rooted in China, AstraZeneca hopes to use the stage of the Expo to play a bridging role as a multinational pharmaceutical company, not only to continue to introduce more overseas products and technologies, but also to let more "Made in China" innovative technologies and products float across the ocean and benefit the world.
Beijing News Shell Finance: At this Expo, what new products and technologies did AstraZeneca show?
Wang Lei: A lot. For example, VR immerses in learning medical knowledge. This is the virtual IP "Zeqiao Doctor" independently developed and created by our partner Zeqiao Health, which can deeply understand the structure of human skin, musculoskeletal, internal organs, blood vessels and other structures through the immersive experience of VR, 360-degree panoramic observation, and truly feel the interactive experience of VR + first aid, and learn human science knowledge in entertainment.
Another example is the oceanus hospital informatization and clinical research integration platform system, clinical evidence support saas cloud platform and so on.
Beijing News Shell Finance: According to your observation, what impact has the new crown epidemic brought to the pharmaceutical industry? In your opinion, in the post-epidemic era, how should the innovative development of the pharmaceutical retail industry go?
Wang Lei: The COVID-19 pandemic has further enhanced the public's demand for healthcare management, bringing challenges and opportunities to the pharmaceutical industry. In the post-epidemic era, medical innovation, digital medical treatment and global cooperation have become common issues facing the global medical and health industry, and have also promoted the accelerated transformation and upgrading of China's medical and health industry.
Based on China's huge population base, in the post-epidemic era, people need more convenient, efficient and accessible access to medical drugs. To this end, AstraZeneca continues to expand the digital medical ecosystem, and cooperates with Internet, e-commerce and retail platforms to jointly improve the accessibility of high-quality drugs and medical service capabilities.
Beijing News Shell Finance: For AstraZeneca, what is the significance of the Chinese market?
Wang Lei: In the 28 years of development in China, AstraZeneca has invested more than US$1.5 billion in R&D in China, and brought nearly 40 innovative drugs covering respiratory, cardiovascular, metabolic, tumor, digestive, kidney disease and other fields to China for Chinese patients. At present, China has become AstraZeneca's second largest market and important business growth platform in the world.
In response to the Chinese government's call to promote the high-quality and coordinated development of the regional economy with a higher level of cooperation and innovation, AstraZeneca announced at the 2019 Ciie Expo that it will establish a regional headquarters in China to promote the integration of the whole medical industry chain according to local conditions, release the innovation strength of the regional medical industry, support local economic development, and bring stronger impetus to the development of the dual circular economy. As of this year, the five major headquarters in Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuxi, Hangzhou and Chengdu have all landed.
In the future, AstraZeneca will base itself on the new pattern of platform-based development, integrate global wisdom with China's opportunities, create more breakthrough products and integrated solutions for diagnosis and treatment with partners, and continue to practice the commitment of "serving China and benefiting the world".
Beijing News shell financial reporter Yan Xia Editor Song Yuting Proofreader Liu Baoqing