What is behind China’s rapid rise as a pharmaceutical powerhouse?
CNA
From billion-dollar licensing deals to advances in cancer therapies and artificial intelligence, Chinese biotech firms are reshaping the global drug industry.
SHANGHAI: The next time you take a new prescription drug, there is a growing chance it was first developed in a laboratory in China.
The country has become one of the biggest sources of new drug candidates entering human trials globally.
According to Goldman Sachs Research, 46 per cent of new drug molecules entering human trials worldwide in the first half of 2025 came from Chinese biopharma companies.
Much of this activity is happening in Zhangjiang, a district in Shanghai where the streets are named after famous scientists such as Thomas Edison and Cai Lun.
Once known mainly as a technology hub, the area has earned a new nickname in recent years – “Pharma Valley” – because of the large number of biotech firms based there.
The rapid expansion of nickel refineries in Indonesia has transformed some rural areas into major production hubs. CNA travelled to Weda Bay in North Maluku — the world's largest nickel production hub, to find out more about the environmental impact of this development.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) last provided an update in March 2024 and victims' relatives remain in the dark about what caused the plane to nosedive from cruising altitude rather than land in Guangzhou as planned.
The rapid expansion of nickel refineries in Indonesia has transformed some rural areas into major production hubs. CNA travelled to Weda Bay in North Maluku — the world's largest nickel production hub, to find out more about the environmental impact of this development.
TEHRAN: Iran threatened on Sunday (Mar 22) to attack key infrastructure across the Middle East if US President Donald Trump follows through on his vow to "obliterate" the Islamic republic's power plants
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) last provided an update in March 2024 and victims' relatives remain in the dark about what caused the plane to nosedive from cruising altitude rather than land in Guangzhou as planned.
The United States in 2019 approved an $8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan but the project has been hit by issues including software problems.
Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the war launched by the US and Israel.
As cities with high EV adoption cut emissions, the villages supplying the batteries bear the burden of environmental damage. CNA travels to Indonesia’s North Maluku province to find out more in this latest part of a series on EVs in Asia.
In March 2026 alone, the police arrested eight Malaysians for similar cases.
Videos and photos from the scene showed thick gray smoke billowing from the complex and some workers jumping from a building.
“You know you don't do a ceasefire when you're literally obliterating the other side,” says US President Donald Trump.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier said that Kyiv wanted money and technology in return for its help in the Middle East, although this still had to be agreed.
The meeting appeared carefully choreographed to avoid open disagreements – apart from a brief awkward moment when Trump made a joke about Pearl Harbor.