In the first half of the year, the volume of exports of both Chinese medicine import and export of warmed up decoction pieces increased.

Business Club August 12 The total volume of Chinese medicine import and export reached 1.22 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 23.4%. Among them, exports amounted to US$910 million, an increase of 26% year-on-year; imports amounted to US$310 million, a year-on-year increase of 16.3%, and emerging markets grew rapidly

In 2010, the global economy began to show signs of recovery. Although the impact of the economic crisis has not been completely shaken off, from the perspective of foreign trade growth data in the first half of the year, the world economy is heading for a better direction. The same is true for the import and export of pharmaceutical products. In the first half of 2010, China’s pharmaceutical product exports reached 18.89 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 31.2% year-on-year, which was in contrast with the same period of export during the first half of 2009, and a 6.8% drop in 2009, indicating that China Exports of pharmaceutical products have shown good momentum.

The import and export situation of Chinese medicines in China is similar to that of other pharmaceutical products. Imports and exports of 1.22 billion U.S. dollars maintained a good momentum of growth, a year-on-year increase of 23.4%. Among them, exports amounted to US$910 million, an increase of 26% year-on-year. The export products still accounted for the largest proportion of raw materials such as plant extracts and traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces, which accounted for 78.8% of the total exports of traditional Chinese medicines. The export value of proprietary Chinese medicines with unique Chinese characteristics accounted for only 12.9% of the total exports, and the year-on-year increase was also the smallest of all types of goods, at only 17.1% (see Table 1).

In the first half of the year, imports of Chinese medicines were 310 million U.S. dollars, an increase of 16.3% year-on-year. Imports of proprietary Chinese medicines, health products, Chinese herbal medicines, decoction pieces, and extracts accounted for the average. Among them, the increase in imports of Chinese herbal medicines was the largest, and the increase in imports of Chinese patent medicines slowed down (see Table 2).

Chinese herbal medicines export volume and price increase

In the first half of 2010, what attracted the most attention was the price of Chinese herbal medicines. Whether it was domestic or foreign trade, the price of herbal medicines was like riding a roller coaster. It soared all the way, and many medicinal herbs prices rose by several dozen times.

In the first half of the year, the export volume of Chinese herbal medicines was 143,000 tons, an increase of 18.6% year-on-year; the export amount reached 340 million US dollars, an increase of 34.6% year-on-year; the average export price increased by 13.5% year-on-year. The prices of medicinal herbs with larger price increase are: Fritillaria (price increased by 229% from the previous year), Tianqi (price increased by 191% from the previous year), Cordyceps sinensis (price increased 48% from the previous year), Coptis chinensis (price from the same period last year increased by 48%), Atractylodes lucidum (price from year-on-year Increase by 38%) etc. In general, the export of Chinese herbal medicines in the first half of the year showed a rise in volume and price.

Due to the unusual climate in the first half of the main production areas of China's medicinal materials, and successive disasters, droughts and floods, the production of medicinal materials was greatly affected, and the price of herbal medicines rose significantly. In addition, some medicine wholesalers "good stuff" is also one of the factors that push up the prices of medicinal herbs. Recently, the continuous floods in most parts of southern China have been affected by the climate. It is expected that prices of Chinese herbal medicines will continue to remain high in the second half of the year.

Weak growth in traditional export markets Emerging markets are active

The main export market of Chinese medicine is in Asia, accounting for more than 60% of the global market, including Japan, China Hong Kong, South Korea and other countries and regions. In addition, the United States is also an important export market for Chinese medicine, accounting for more than 10% of the global market. In the first half of 2010, the top three countries and regions for the export of Chinese medicines in China were Japan, Hong Kong, and the United States.

Japan and the United States as traditional traditional Chinese medicine export markets, although the export value is ranked top, but the growth rate is smaller than the same period last year, especially compared to other emerging export markets, the traditional market performance is flat. Taking the export of plant extracts as an example, although Japan and the United States ranked in the top two positions in the first half of 2010, the increase was less than 10%, while Malaysia and India, which ranked third and fourth, increased by 67% year-on-year, respectively. 19%.

The same phenomenon exists in the export of proprietary Chinese medicines. As the major export market of Chinese proprietary Chinese medicines, Japan's exports in the first half of the year showed a negative year-on-year growth, falling by 6.3%. Among the top five countries and regions in China's exports of proprietary Chinese medicines, the only year-on-year increase was less than 20%. The sluggish trade in Chinese and Chinese patent medicines in China and Japan may be attributed to the fact that the Japanese government budget screening team at the end of 2009 plans to exclude Kampo medicine from the public health insurance target. This pending plan affects the demand of ordinary people in Japan for proprietary Chinese medicines. increase.

Traditional Chinese medicine export markets are being challenged by emerging markets. In the first half of 2010, the emerging Chinese medicine export markets represented by India, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. performed well and deserved extensive attention from the industry. These emerging markets increased by more than 50% year-on-year.

Previously, India was not the main export market for Chinese proprietary Chinese medicines. However, in the first half of the year, India had already become China's second largest export market for proprietary Chinese medicines, with exports exceeding the United States and Japan. At the same time, India is still the fourth largest market for the export of plant extracts in China. The main Chinese medicine commodities exported to India by China are pigment plant extracts and artemisinin-related products that are resistant to malaria.

China-ASEAN Free Trade Area has become a new bright spot

In January 2010, the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area was formally launched. Tariffs involving Chinese medicine products between China and ASEAN countries have been greatly reduced, and customs clearance has become more convenient. From January to June 2010, China's import and export volume of Chinese medicine to ASEAN was US$200 million, which was a 42% increase year-on-year, accounting for 16.5% of the global market for Chinese medicines. Among them, the export volume was 160 million U.S. dollars, an increase of 43.9% year-on-year; the import volume was 40 million U.S. dollars, an increase of 34.3% year-on-year, and the import and export trade saw rapid growth.

Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore are my main markets for Chinese medicine exports to ASEAN. Malaysia imports mainly plant extracts from China, and Vietnam mainly imports imported Chinese herbal medicines. Singapore has a relatively complete Chinese patent medicine registration regulation. The Chinese patent medicine market is relatively mature and has become the main destination for China's proprietary Chinese medicine exports to ASEAN.

In the first half of the year, Malaysia has become the fifth largest market for Chinese medicine exports. Due to the implementation of relevant preferential policies under the framework of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, the trade in Chinese medicine between the two countries has developed rapidly. At present, Malaysia is the third largest market for the export of plant extracts in China and is the sixth largest market for proprietary Chinese medicines and Chinese herbal medicines. The prospects of these emerging TCM export markets are promising, and the growth of exports far exceeds that of traditional export markets such as Japan and the United States.

In the first half of 2010, China’s imports and exports of Chinese medicine products were strong. Due to the increase in prices of raw materials, the increase in imports and exports was significant, and the growth in demand for traditional Chinese medicines in emerging export markets was strong. However, the growth of proprietary Chinese medicines is relatively weak. From Japan to the European Union, exports of proprietary Chinese medicines are facing more and more difficulties.

With the continued recovery of the global economy and market demand, it is expected that the exports of Chinese medicine in the second half of the year will continue to grow, but the growth rate has slowed down from the first half of the year.