UK pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (AZ) said in January it will invest USD 15 billion in its Chinese research and production facilities through 2030. Celebrated as a win for the UK life science sector, the decision puts China on par with the US and Europe as an innovation hub for AZ at a time of fierce global rivalry.
Washington and Brussels both recently issued legislation to protect their biotech industries from competition. The US BIOSECURE Act, passed in December, limits the role of Chinese firms in US biotechnology R&D. The draft Biotech Act, which the European Commission published almost simultaneously, aims to close the innovation gap with the US and China.
AZ’s investment goes directly against these policies by relocating biotech research to China. Chinese media see it as cementing China’s position in global pharma innovation, noting how AZ upgraded China from a key market to a global innovation hub. Including a USD 2.5 billion investment in its Beijing lab announced in 2025, AZ will have two strategic labs each in China, the US and Europe (Sweden and the UK). China-based staff is to reach 20,000, overtaking both the US (18,000) and the UK (about 10,000), whereas China is only about 12 percent of global sales. Moreover, AZ is investing much less in its other R&D hubs. It has put USD 820 million in planned UK investments on hold, partly due to issues with government support.
https://merics.org/en/comment/astrazenecas-rd-bet-makes-china-pharma-innovation-hub