China becomes world's second largest medicine consumer

BEIJING — China has become the second largest consumer of medicine in the world, as well as the world's biggest exporter of bulk pharmaceuticals, an official at China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) said Wednesday.

According to Wu Zhen, deputy director of CFDA, the main business income of China's 5,000 pharmaceutical companies has reached 2.5 trillion yuan ($370 billion).

Up to 50 of the companies are certified in Europe or the United States, and their export volume surpassed $13.5 billion, Wu said.

Wu said the CFDA's efforts to speed up the process of new drug approval and clear the backlog of applications have paid off.