A team from the Committee on Education, Science, Health and Sports of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee visited East China's Jiangsu province from Nov 5 to 8, to survey the research and development (R&D) as well as clinical application of innovative drugs and advanced medical equipment. Zhu Yongxin, vice-chairman of the CPPCC National Committee and executive vice-chairman of the China Association for Promoting Democracy Central Committee, led the team.

The team visited universities, hospitals, research institutes, industrial parks and pharmaceutical companies in the cities of Nanjing, Taizhou and Suzhou, where they gained insights into the local development of innovative drugs and high-end medical equipment, and held a symposium to discuss findings.

The team noted that China has strengthened its strategic planning for innovation in pharmaceuticals and medical devices, and advanced research on core and key technologies, yielding improvement in both the overall R&D level for pharmaceuticals and medical equipment and the independent R&D rate of core components. The gap between domestic products and their international counterparts is narrowing, with some domestic products excelling through technological innovation, they said.

The team emphasized the importance of high-level technological innovation in the health sector. They called for integrated reform in the systems and mechanisms of education, science and talent development, and intensifying top-level planning for the pharmaceutical and medical equipment industries to enhance original innovation ability. 

Efforts are needed in accurately grasping the current frontier of medical science and technology innovation, and identifying the right direction for R&D endeavors, they stressed. 

They urged more efforts to accelerate the development of new quality productive forces in the pharmaceutical industry, contributing wisdom and strength to enhancing public health, expediting health industry development and advancing the Healthy China initiative.