Dialogue with AstraZeneca China General Manager Lin Xiao: All we can do is steadfast innovation.

Ask AI · How can local partnerships help AstraZeneca achieve its global innovation strategy?

Over the past week, it may have been the busiest week for multinational pharmaceutical company executives in China.

From March 20, at the 17th Beijing Municipal Mayor’s International Entrepreneurs Advisory Conference, where senior leadership from global biopharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca and Sanofi attended and offered ideas, to the China Development High-Level Forum held from March 22 to 23—where more than a dozen global executives from multinational pharma and medical device firms, including AstraZeneca, Roche, Pfizer, Novartis, Eli Lilly, Medtronic, and Siemens Healthineers, gathered in Beijing and made back-to-back appearances on top government and economic dialogue platforms—clear signals were released showing exceptionally high attention to the Chinese market.

China has already become the second-largest single market globally for many of the companies mentioned above. Taking AstraZeneca, Roche, Novartis, Sanofi, and Eli Lilly as examples, financial reports show that in 2025, the five companies together achieved nearly $20 billion in revenue in the China market.

Beyond their clear statements, a series of substantive measures further demonstrate the long-term confidence of multinational pharma companies in rooting themselves in China. From March 19 to 21, AstraZeneca successively announced plans to build end-to-end cellular therapy capabilities in Shanghai, advance collaboration on the innovation ecosystem between China and the UK, and also plans to localize the production and supply of radioligand conjugate drugs in Guangzhou. In addition, AstraZeneca announced cooperation with CSPC Group to expand capacity for biological drug manufacturing, and to establish a joint research center for AI-driven drug discovery with Tsinghua University. This comes after AstraZeneca announced in January that it “plans to invest more than 100 billion yuan in China by 2030,” and these initiatives were rolled out in rapid succession—within less than 50 days of that plan being announced.

“China occupies a very critical position in our global strategy. It is our strategic hub for global innovation and advanced manufacturing.” On March 26, AstraZeneca once again appeared at the 2026 annual meeting of the Boao Forum for Asia and attended the opening ceremony. Lin Xiao, General Manager of AstraZeneca China, shared his view.

AstraZeneca China General Manager Lin Xiao

Deepen innovative smart manufacturing, strengthen end-to-end deployment

At the recently concluded National Two Sessions, accelerating the Healthy China Initiative became one of the hot topics. For the first time, the Government Work Report included biopharmaceuticals in emerging pillar industries, signaling that the sector has officially moved into the country’s core strategic track.

For AstraZeneca, which has been rooted in China for more than 30 years, China has long gone beyond a single-market positioning. Leveraging policy tailwinds and opportunities from industrial upgrading, AstraZeneca has built an end-to-end value-chain layout here, with R&D, manufacturing, and ecosystem collaboration working in tandem. Not long ago, AstraZeneca released its 2025 annual financial report: revenue in China was $6.65B, accounting for about 11% of its global total revenue. Its revenue scale and share have remained at the top among multinational pharma companies, fully proving the tangible results of its local deep cultivation and innovation investment.

On March 19, 2026, AstraZeneca announced two major deployments for production bases of cutting-edge innovative therapies in quick succession: in Shanghai, it will establish a commercial manufacturing and supply base and an innovation center for cellular therapies; on the same day, it signed an agreement with the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone to plan and build a production and supply base for radioligand conjugate drugs (RDC).

AstraZeneca announced the construction of manufacturing and supply bases in Shanghai and Guangzhou

Focusing on leading global innovation tracks such as cell therapy and radioligand conjugate drugs, the two bases are the company’s two additional high-end capacity deployments following Wuxi, Taizhou, Qingdao, and Beijing. As Lin Xiao explained, AstraZeneca currently has four manufacturing sites in China, and it has already supplied innovative medicines to more than 70 global markets. With these two newly added cutting-edge facilities, AstraZeneca will further enhance its local manufacturing capabilities in new drugs and therapies, and they will become key pillars in its continuously expanding, diversified global supply network.

It is worth noting that AstraZeneca’s manufacturing sites in China are already moving beyond traditional manufacturing models. It is being driven by dual engines—green, low-carbon innovation and smart, data-driven technological innovation—to build world-class factory benchmarks.

When discussing green development, Lin Xiao mentioned that he had seen a curve: it shows that while AstraZeneca’s carbon emissions have continued to decline, sales have kept rising steadily. “This chart is impressive and strongly proves that we can absolutely achieve high-quality business growth by saving energy and cutting emissions, practicing green and environmentally friendly concepts, and continuously promoting sustainable development initiatives.”

At present, companies deeply integrate sustainability concepts into the entire production value chain and have put forward a “Net Zero Carbon Ambition.” As Lin Xiao said, the Wuxi site has already achieved 100% usage of renewable energy; the Taizhou site has completed a full substitution with renewable electricity; and once the Qingdao site starts production, it will achieve near net-zero carbon operations.

On the other hand, AI algorithms, intelligent robots, and Industry 4.0 technologies have been applied across the entire production quality control process. Taking the Wuxi manufacturing and supply base as an example, this facility has implemented more than 30 Industry 4.0 innovation technology applications, including AI and algorithms. Output has increased by 55%, and productivity has increased by 54%. In 2024, the Wuxi manufacturing and supply base received World Economic Forum (WEF) certification as a “Lighthouse Factory” globally.

At the Taizhou plant, AstraZeneca is also exploring the use of AI robots. “Especially in some simple, repetitive, and risky steps, we hope to use AI robots to perform the operations.” Lin Xiao said, “If we can achieve that, this model will be replicated across AstraZeneca globally.”

Focus on clinical needs—use innovation to drive transformation in diagnosis and treatment

“China’s market has undergone profound changes.” Lin Xiao pointed out, “In the past, it may have been positioned more as a market, but now it emphasizes the concept of the entire industry chain.” He analyzed that behind this shift are China’s massive unmet health needs, the comprehensive rise of local innovation, and the unique advantages of the supply chain. “China’s population accounts for 18% of the global total, but patients with chronic diseases account for one-third, and the number of cancer deaths accounts for one-quarter. These figures themselves represent a huge unmet need.” In his view, these numbers also force the industry to accelerate technological innovation and deepen multi-party collaboration to meet diagnostic and treatment needs.

From March 24 to 27, the Boao Forum for Asia 2026 annual meeting will be held in Boao, Hainan. During the forum, AstraZeneca led the organization of a sub-forum themed “Addressing the Challenges of Aging—Whole-Chain Management of Innovative Respiratory System Diseases.” The sub-forum brought together government departments, representatives from international health organizations, and authoritative experts from both home and abroad. Discussions were organized around topics such as accelerating innovation for biopharmaceuticals, improving primary healthcare service capacity, refining multidisciplinary management models, and promoting whole-life-cycle disease management. The aim is to effectively enhance the standards of diagnosis and treatment for respiratory diseases, improve patients’ treatment outcomes, and provide feasible solutions for health challenges brought by population aging.

AstraZeneca held the sub-forum “Addressing the Challenges of Aging—Whole-Chain Management of Innovative Respiratory System Diseases” at Boao

In Lin Xiao’s view, this forum is an important exchange platform for AstraZeneca to advance transformation in diagnosis and treatment in China. “In key therapeutic areas, industry leaders not only need to provide high-quality medicines, but also help enable precise diagnosis, standardized treatment, and long-term health management through innovative technologies and a collaborative ecosystem.” Lin Xiao said plainly, “There is a lot of work still to be done in this area, and we need all parties to work together to push it forward.”

The “Implementation Plan for the Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Respiratory Diseases (2024—2030)” issued by the National Health Commission and other departments, as well as data released by the China National Respiratory Medicine Center, show that in China, there are about 100 million patients with chronic respiratory diseases represented by COPD and asthma. Insufficient primary-care diagnostic and treatment capacity, long prevention-and-treatment cycles, limited drug accessibility, and lack of long-term management have increasingly added to the disease burden.

In September 2024, with joint policy advocacy from experts in academia, all sectors of society, and the industrial community, COPD was officially included in the basic public health program.

“Many COPD patients seen at major hospitals are those with severe disease or acute exacerbations, while a large number of mild cases are not screened and diagnosed in time.” In response, Lin Xiao said AstraZeneca hopes to work with multiple parties, focusing on early screening, early diagnosis, and early intervention for COPD, and to promote the implementation and widespread adoption of the concept of standardized management.

In addition to promoting early screening and early diagnosis, technological innovation in the diagnostic process is also crucial—especially for primary-level care. Taking COPD as an example, traditional pulmonary function testing takes 20 to 30 minutes and requires a very high level of patient cooperation. The application of AI provides a new path to address this pain point: using AI-assisted detection to support COPD diagnosis. By simulating pulmonary function test curves with AI technology, it can shorten testing time, lower the operational barrier, and make it possible for primary-level care to achieve rapid and accurate diagnosis.

Given the common situation of multimorbidity—many chronic conditions coexisting—AstraZeneca applies “co-management of chronic diseases” as an innovative concept to support systematic management of complex chronic conditions and improve patients’ quality of life. At the same time, it helps drive medical resources downward, so that patients in counties and communities can share high-quality innovative healthcare services.

Integrate into China’s innovation ecosystem—achieve two-way empowerment through local collaboration

Accelerating global R&D innovation with China’s strength is another core part of AstraZeneca’s development strategy in China. From locally based R&D platforms to deep strategic cooperation with local pharmaceutical companies, AstraZeneca is completing its transformation from “bringing in” to “integrating” and then “going out.” It uses local Chinese innovations to complement its global R&D pipeline, promoting Chinese innovation outcomes to reach the world and achieving “two-way empowerment—local innovation and global sharing.”

AstraZeneca continues to strengthen its innovative R&D capability in China. AstraZeneca has six strategic R&D centers globally; two of them are located in China—Beijing and Shanghai—forming a complete end-to-end R&D system covering basic research, clinical R&D, and成果轉化 (translation: achievement transformation/productization).

At present, AstraZeneca China’s R&D pipeline projects exceed 250. Among them, nearly 20 global clinical R&D projects are led by China-based teams, achieving a leap from “participation” to “leadership.” “China still has very large health needs that have not been met. For China-based teams, this is both a challenge and an opportunity, and it also raises the bar for China-based teams.” Lin Xiao said. In areas of diseases with high prevalence in China, such as cardiovascular diseases and gastrointestinal tract tumors, China-based teams are leading global research directions and accelerating the implementation of innovative outcomes.

In expanding its innovation circle, AstraZeneca focuses on laying out frontier tracks. In early 2026, AstraZeneca and CSPC Group reached a comprehensive strategic collaboration agreement for the discovery of innovative polypeptide molecules and the development of long-acting delivery products. The potential collaboration amount could reach $18.5 billion. This includes one project ready for clinical preparation and three research projects at preclinical stages. In addition, the two parties will further carry out collaboration on four additional new projects by leveraging CSPC Group’s proprietary sustained-release drug delivery technology platform and a polypeptide-drug AI discovery platform. This move reflects AstraZeneca’s strategic consideration in tapping the potential of next-generation innovative drugs.

On March 21, AstraZeneca announced further deepening of its cooperation with CSPC. Together, they will establish a joint venture company, building a new-generation biologics manufacturing base in Shijiazhuang to expand capacity for both parties in China.

AstraZeneca and CSPC Group deepen their cooperation

Such deep collaboration is not a one-off case. It is a normalized part of AstraZeneca’s integration into China’s innovation ecosystem. Data shows that since 2023, AstraZeneca has reached 17 cooperation agreements with 15 China-based local innovative enterprises. These include industry-leading companies in multiple fields such as Xybian Biotech, CSPC Group, and others like Heptamed Pharmaceuticals, Akesin, and Yonsin Polypeptide, among others, forming a diversified, all-around innovation collaboration network.

Sustained open collaboration has brought AstraZeneca tangible innovation outcomes. As Lin Xiao explained, AstraZeneca’s innovations in areas such as cell therapy, nuclear medicines, and GLP-1 all originate from cooperation with China’s biopharmaceutical enterprises.

In November 2023, the cooperation between AstraZeneca and Chengyi Bio was particularly representative. Both parties signed an exclusive collaboration and licensing agreement. Under the agreement, AstraZeneca will obtain the exclusive development and commercialization rights in all countries and regions outside China for ECC5004, a small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist from Chengyi Bio. This became a typical case of “innovation products originating in China supplementing the global pipeline.”

“Using innovation products originating in China to supplement the global pipeline.” Lin Xiao said that such BD transactions have a far-reaching impact on the global business of multinational pharma companies. Behind it all is the comprehensive rise of innovation and R&D capability among China’s local pharmaceutical companies, as well as a direct reflection of China’s innovation ecosystem becoming increasingly mature. Statistics from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) and a third-party database show that in 2025, the total value of BD licensing transactions conducted by China’s local pharma companies for the full year reached $135.66B, with 157 deals. “From the numbers alone, Chinese companies account for nearly one-third of global licensing transactions. This figure indicates that China’s innovation has already achieved a breakthrough and leap, and it provides a solid foundation for us to deepen local cooperation and connect innovative forces.” Lin Xiao said.

Massive demand points to even bigger market goals, and it also brings more room for innovation. Previously, AstraZeneca announced that by the end of 2030, it plans to launch 20 additional innovative drugs. Achieving this goal cannot be done without support from China’s wisdom and innovation ecosystem.

“Every year comes with challenges, but there are also opportunities.” Lin Xiao concluded, “What we can do is to innovate with determination.” This determination is clearly outlining AstraZeneca’s future blueprint in China through scientific innovation, ecosystem integration, technology enablement, and green commitments—no longer merely a China chapter in a global story, but an indispensable force within China’s whole-chain health ecosystem.