Illustration: Xia Qing/GT
As the Chinese mainland’s innovative pharmaceuticals industry starts to gain global recognition, Hong Kong is leveraging its distinctive edge to align with the national development strategy and build itself into a drug innovation hub in the world, playing an indispensable role in China’s evolution from a major drug maker to a strong innovator in biopharmaceuticals.
Delivering a speech at the 30th Hong Kong Medical Forum on Saturday, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po highlighted the city’s advantages in intellectual property (IP) protection, well-established institutions, talent and capital resources, stating that Hong Kong aspires to become “the beating heart of the global medical innovation ecosystem,” according to a press release published on the official website of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
Just a few days earlier, HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee said at the Asia Summit on Global Health that the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) optimizes an evaluation and approval mechanism for innovative drugs and supports their clinical application. In pursuit of medical innovation, Hong Kong is prone to complement the strategies set out in the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30). The goal is to develop Hong Kong into a major health and medical innovation hub.
These statements not only outline a blueprint for Hong Kong’s pharmaceutical sector innovation but also reflect the city’s positioning of its role in the national development landscape.
Hong Kong’s confidence in building itself into a global medical innovation hub stems first from its IP protection system, which is fully aligned with international rules and provides full-chain protection for innovative drugs and medical patents from research and development (R&D) to commercialization. In the biopharmaceutical field, innovative drug R&D is characterized by a long cycle, huge capital investment, and relatively high risk. Effective IP protection is directly related to the core interests and market returns of innovation entities.
Hong Kong is home to a good number of internationally renowned medical colleges and top-tier R&D institutions, gathering high-end medical talent from home and abroad. These institutions and experts not only drive basic medical research but also provide strong support for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into practical medical applications.
A mature capital market serves as another powerful engine for Hong Kong to empower the pharmaceutical industry. The high-investment, high-risk, and long-cycle nature of the medical industry means that sufficient capital is crucial for the implementation of innovative achievements.
As an international financial center, Hong Kong boasts a sophisticated capital market with diversified financing channels and well-designed funding mechanisms tailored to biopharmaceutical businesses. These mechanisms significantly lower financing barriers and precisely address the capital needs of companies at different stages.
Yet, the strategically important factor is the synergy generated by Hong Kong’s deep integration with the broader Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). Guangdong Province’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) explicitly states that the province will develop the biopharmaceutical industry aimed at improving the health and well-being of the people. This means that Chinese mainland cities in the GBA, leveraging their strong manufacturing capabilities, well-established industrial supporting facilities, and vast market, can effectively complement Hong Kong’s innovation hub to achieve the highest efficiency.
From a broader perspective, China’s biopharmaceutical industry is transitioning toward being a strong innovation player, and Hong Kong plays an indispensable role in this process.
About one-quarter of innovative drug candidates under active development now originate from China. What’s more, 46 percent of new drug molecules that entered into human trials in the first half of 2025 were from Chinese companies, an increase from about 17 percent a decade earlier, according to Goldman Sachs Research.
Behind this transformation lies not only the improvement of local R&D capability but also in-depth empowerment of Hong Kong as an international springboard.
For mainland-based innovative drug companies, Hong Kong is not only the first stop to access the international capital market but also a strategic pivot for connecting with international regulatory standards, conducting global multi-center clinical trials, and establishing overseas partnerships.
Hong Kong can also seize enormous development opportunities from the rise of the mainland’s innovative drugs. More R&D centers will be established in the city, more clinical data will be generated there, and more capital transactions will be completed there.
Hong Kong’s unique advantages, combined with the strong momentum of the mainland’s biopharmaceutical innovation, have laid a solid foundation for its emergence as a leading medical innovation hub. As it continues to align with national development strategies, deepen regional cooperation, and refine innovation ecosystem, Hong Kong is well positioned to shine brightly on the global medical innovation stage.
