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China to reduce tariffs, increase imports of Indian medicines
The foreign ministry said India and China had agreed on reducing duties on Indian medicines, especially cancer drugs, which are in great demand here because they are much cheaper than Western alternatives.
Beijing China on Monday said it will reduce tariffs and increase imports of Indian medicines, a move that could lead to the possible opening up of the massive Chinese market to cheaper generic medicines from India.
The foreign ministry said India and China had agreed on reducing duties on Indian medicines, especially cancer drugs, which are in great demand here because they are much cheaper than Western alternatives.
“We believe expansion of imports and slashing of tariffs on anti-cancer medicines will also usher in great opportunities for India and other countries in the region,” foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunyin told a regular news briefing.
“As far as I know, the pharmaceutical trade between China and India has shown a continuous growth trend. The two sides have conducted good communications on promoting Indian medicines to enter the Chinese market,” she said.
“Relevant departments have formulated specific measures for bilateral pharmaceutical trade cooperation between China and India and to promote the expansion of Indian medicines into the Chinese market,” she added.
“It is believed the expansion and deepening of Sino-India pharmaceutical trade cooperation will further enhance the health and well-being of the two peoples.”
According to India’s Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council (PHARMEXCIL), the country’s export of drugs, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals to China in 2014-15 were worth $138 million.
Some generic Indian cancer drugs, for example, cost just one-tenth the price of their Western counterparts available in China.
In April, China had first announced it would remove duties on 28 medicines, a move that was expected to benefit Indian manufacturers.
“China has exempted import tariffs (duties) for 28 drugs, including all cancer drugs, from May 1st. Good news for India’s pharmaceutical industry and medicine export to China. I believe this will help reduce trade imbalance between China and India in the future,” Luo Zhaohui, China’s ambassador to India, had tweeted.
The move to cut tariffs on Indian drugs comes at a time when the Chinese movie Dying To Survive, based loosely on the real life story of a cancer-afflicted man who smuggled Indian drugs into China, is doing roaring business.
In a related development, spokesperson Hua said India and China had also slashed import tariffs of a range of products from July 1, following the fourth round of negotiations under the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), which includes Bangladesh, Laos, South Korea and Sri Lanka.
China said it will reduce tariffs on 8,549 items, including chemical and agricultural products, while India will do the same for 3,142 products.
“We will also impose a negotiated agreed tariff rate on relevant items in accordance with our regulations,” Hua said.
“We have decided to expand our imports as well as opening up. This is what China needs in order to uphold free trade and (work) against protectionism. This is also in keeping up with our own pace of development and opening up.”
