Ningbo China-CEE Pharmaceutical Trading Platform Launches, Exports Exceed 200M Yuan in Trial

By Yan Shuo, 21st Century Business Herald

Another cross-border pharmaceutical trading platform has been launched in China, further strengthening the country's growing network of international medical trade services.

On September 22, the Ningbo Central and Eastern Europe Pharmaceutical Trading (Centralized Procurement) Platform was officially launched in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. It is the first specialized pharmaceutical trading platform in China targeting Central and Eastern European countries, and the fourth cross-border pharmaceutical trading platform coordinated and promoted by the national healthcare security system, following earlier platforms in Guangxi, Tianjin, and Xinjiang.

Key Platform Data

• Nearly 500 supply enterprises currently registered on the platform
• 20 overseas buyers
• Over 4,000 pharmaceutical and medical device products displayed online on a regular basis, covering six major categories:
• Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs)
• Pharmaceutical preparations
• Traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces
• Medical consumables
• Diagnostic reagents
• Medical equipment
• During the trial operation period, the platform facilitated pharmaceutical export transactions exceeding 200 million yuan

Platform Objectives

Following its official launch, the platform will strengthen exchanges and cooperation with relevant government departments, pharmaceutical enterprises, and industry organizations in Central and Eastern European countries. It aims to promote:

• Bilateral pharmaceutical trade and industrial collaboration
• Medical technology exchanges

Addressing Challenges in Overseas Market Expansion

For years, domestic pharmaceutical enterprises have faced significant challenges when exploring overseas markets, including information asymmetry, cumbersome cross-border transaction procedures, and limited access to overseas centralized procurement channels. These issues have resulted in high overall costs for companies going global.

The National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) has prioritized the implementation of China's "Going Global" strategy for pharmaceuticals and medical devices. It has designated the following as a key task for 2026: "Leveraging the regional advantages of various centralized procurement trading platforms to form innovative models for international pharmaceutical and medical device procurement, utilizing the price discovery function of China's drug price registration system, and enhancing the internationalization level of China's pharmaceutical industry."

Against this backdrop, the Ningbo platform accelerated its development, commencing trial operations on March 17 and holding its official launch ceremony on September 22.

Leveraging Regional Advantages

Tu Zhijun, a relevant official from the Ningbo Municipal Healthcare Security Administration's Department of Pharmaceutical Pricing and Procurement, told the 21st Century Business Herald that Ningbo benefits from the established China-Central and Eastern European Countries Expo, a mature mechanism-based cooperation platform that provides natural advantages.

Tu noted that the platform's services are not limited to Central and Eastern Europe. It has already attracted overseas clients from the Americas and Europe, using Central and Eastern Europe as a base to gradually expand globally for pharmaceutical and medical device trade matching.

Products and Enterprises on the Platform

Currently listed products include:

• Biological and innovative drugs from Hengrui Medicine and Qilu Pharmaceutical
• APIs from Hisun Pharmaceutical and Menovo Pharmaceutical
• Radiofrequency ablation devices, biopsy needles, and ultrasonic scalpels from Ganaiwei Medical and Sinosurgical Medical
• Large medical equipment from Kangda Medical, David Medical, and XinGaoyi
• In vitro diagnostic reagents from Medconn Bio, Hybribio, and Improvita Medical

Core Platform Services

A platform technology official stated that registered suppliers can open online stores to continuously expand their online sales channels, shifting away from the previous model of individual enterprises operating independently. The platform's core advantage lies in its comprehensive supporting services, leveraging Ningbo's more than 40 years of foreign trade experience to ensure that pharmaceutical products can be sold and shipped smoothly, addressing traditional pain points such as multi-step and fragmented trade processes.

Tu Zhijun explained that the platform is positioned as a B2B trading vehicle with two core service functions:

1. Enterprise and Buyer Matching: The platform attracts domestic pharmaceutical enterprises and extensively introduces overseas buyer resources. Overseas buyers can browse relevant pharmaceutical and medical device products online, communicate in real-time with listed enterprises, or engage via email. Once price agreements and cooperation contracts are reached, export transactions can be completed.

1. Comprehensive Foreign Trade Services: The platform collaborates with professional third-party foreign trade service providers. For domestic pharmaceutical enterprises in the early stages of foreign trade or lacking practical export capabilities, the platform offers end-to-end supporting services, including logistics, transportation, and cross-border foreign exchange settlement, helping enterprises complete the entire cross-border trade process and bridging capability gaps for small and medium-sized enterprises.

"Compared to other export channels, enterprises choose this platform because, on one hand, it can bring business growth and open up new overseas market opportunities. On the other hand, as a government-guided trading platform, it also helps enterprises enhance their overseas influence," Tu said.

Multi-Point Layout and Coordinated Efforts

As China's pharmaceutical industry innovation capabilities improve, the scale of pharmaceutical trade continues to expand, and the internationalization of medical devices accelerates. Data shows that in 2025, China's total import and export volume of pharmaceutical and medical device products reached $201.717 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1.18%.

In recent years, the healthcare security system has accelerated the deployment of regional cross-border pharmaceutical centralized procurement platforms. It has coordinated the development of platforms in Guangxi, Xinjiang, Tianjin, Zhejiang (Ningbo), and Ningxia, leveraging their respective regional advantages to target Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and Arab countries. These platforms, with differentiated positioning, are gradually building a cross-border pharmaceutical trade service network covering key regions and serving pharmaceutical enterprises nationwide.

Liu Cheng, General Manager of Ningbo Luke Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., told the 21st Century Business Herald: "Countries around the world have centralized procurement mechanisms similar to China's, though they are named differently—often as government tenders, special procurement, or industry centralized procurement. Whether from overseas government agencies, industry associations, or non-governmental organizations (NGOs), there is high recognition of the credibility of cross-border trading platforms coordinated by the NHSA when conducting centralized procurement and tendering."

Many enterprises have already experienced the convenience of going global through the platform. During the trial operation phase, Ningbo Cibi Medical Equipment Co., Ltd. completed multiple transactions through the platform. Chairman Shen Guocheng stated: "The platform is still in its early stages, and revenue from platform transactions currently accounts for less than 10% of our overall overseas business. We hope this proportion can increase to 50% in the future."

Impact of Domestic Centralized Procurement on Export Pricing

Regarding the impact of domestic centralized procurement on export pricing, Liu Cheng commented: "To some extent, centralized procurement is a plus for pharmaceutical enterprises going global. Supplying the same type of product to both domestic and overseas markets allows companies to spread research and development and compliance costs. Overseas market prices vary—developed countries and regions such as Europe, the United States, and Japan have higher consumption levels and demand higher product quality and packaging standards, naturally leading to higher prices. Overseas pricing is based on the market standards of the target country and does not directly reference domestic centralized procurement prices. However, when evaluating a product's compliance level, yield rate, and quality control capabilities, overseas buyers do refer to the review results of Chinese regulatory authorities."

Future Outlook

At a symposium on promoting high-quality development of the pharmaceutical industry during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period held in late August, Zhang Ke, Party Secretary and Director of the NHSA, stated that during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, the NHSA will make good use of China's drug price registration system and the international pharmaceutical trading (centralized procurement) platforms targeting neighboring countries to help enterprises expand into global markets.

With the official launch of the Ningbo Central and Eastern Europe Pharmaceutical Trading (Centralized Procurement) Platform and the continued rollout of multi-point cross-border pharmaceutical and medical device trading platforms, the internationalization channels for China's pharmaceutical industry will be further broadened, continuously promoting Chinese pharmaceuticals and medical devices to reach global markets.