PEOPLEinJohannesburg,SouthAfricacannowmoreeasilyaccesstotraditionalChinesemedicines(TCM)whentheygetsick.BeijingTongrentangAfrica,asubsidiaryofChinaBeijingTongrentang-atime-honoredTCMbrandwithahistoryof348years-openedforbusinessinJohannesburglastNovember.
鈥淭heestablishmentofthiscompanyinAfricamarksanimportantmilestoneinintroducingTCMintoAfrica.It鈥檚alsooneoftheinitiativesaimedatimplementingtheoutcomeoftheForumonChina-AfricaCooperation(FOCAC)JohannesburgSummitheldinDecember2015,鈥漵aidHuangWei,ScienceandTechnologyCounselorattheChineseEmbassyinSouthAfrica.
Thetime-honoredcompanysaiditplanstoopenfivestoresinthreecities:Johannesburg,PretoriaandDurban,withtheaimofintroducinghigh-qualityTCMproductsandservicestolocalpeople.
WiththerapiddevelopmentofChina-Africacooperationinrecentyears,thebilateraltradeinmedicinehasalsobeenbooming.StatisticsshowthatChina鈥檚exportofpharmaceuticalstoAfricain2015reached2.32billionyuan,ayear-on-yearincreaseof2.59percent.
Hugecooperationpotential
Ethiopia鈥檚OrientalIndustrialParkwitnessedinOctober2016theestablishmentofSansheng(Ethio)PharmaceuticalPlc.-aChinesepharmaceuticalcompany,whichbecamethefirstpharmaceuticalcompanytosettleinthepark.
Accordingtostatistics,someSub-SaharanAfricancountriesdonothavetheirownpharmaceuticalmanufacturingindustry.ExceptfromSouthAfrica,someofthesecountriescanonlyproduceasmallnumberofpharmaceuticalproducts.Besides,localpharmaceuticalproductsarelimitedonlytobasicdrugssuchaspainkillers,antibiotics,anti-malariadrugsandvitamins,whichcanonlymeet20to30percentofthedomesticdemand.
Realizingthehugedemandformedicineandthelackofself-supplycapacityintheAfricanmarket,manyChinesepharmaceuticalcompanieshavealreadyinvestedandopenedfactoriesinAfricatolocalizetheirproduction.Thistrendiswelcomed,saidEthiopianIndustryMinisterMebrahtuMeles,asitwillhelpstrengthenthecontinent鈥檚pharmaceuticalproductioncapacity.
AccordingtoDiarraBoubacar,aMaliantraditionalmedicinedoctor,thereisahugedemandformedicinesinmanyAfricancountries.ThedoctorateholdertoldChinAfricathatAfricahasalonghistoryoftraditionalmedicine,butit鈥檚stillintheearlystageofresearchanddevelopment.BoubacarsuggestedthatAfricashouldlearnfromTCM.Africaalsohasrichherbalmedicineresources,andChinacanimportsomeuniqueAfricanherbalmedicinebasedonfurtherstudies,headded.
LikeEthiopia,manyAfricancountriesarefacedwiththechallengeofgreatdemandformedicinebutlackofproductioncapacity.InKenya,forexample,KenyaMedicalSuppliesAuthorityhasanannualbudgetof$300millionforpublichealth,whilethescaleoftheentirepharmaceuticalmarketis$500million.Thecountry鈥檚localproducerscanonlymeet30percentofthemarketdemand,while70percentofmedicinestillreliesonimport.
Localizedproduction
ChinaAssociate(Group),basedinShenzhenofGuangdongProvince,iswell-knowninAfrica鈥檚pharmaceuticalmarket.Since1992,thecompanyhasbeenexportingmedicinestoAfrica,whereitquicklybecameanimportantsupplierofmedicinerawmaterials.
In2003,itjoinedforceswithChina鈥檚DandongJinwanGroupandEthiopia鈥檚ZAFPharmaceuticalPlc.tocreateSino-EthiopAssociate(Africa)Plc.,ajointventurethatproduces2billionpillcapsuleseachyear.
ThecompanywassetupinEthiopia鈥檚capitalAddisAbaba,asthecountryhasrichresourcesofcattlebones,whichcanbeextractedtoproducegelatin-therawmaterialusedinmakingpillcapsules.ThecompanythusmakesoptimaluseoflocalresourcestomeetthegrowingdemandintheAfricanmarket.
XieXiaoyan,formerChineseAmbassadortoEthiopia,spokehighlyofthejointventure鈥檚effortsinlocalizedproduction.鈥淭hisprojectsetsagoodmodelforSino-Ethiopiancooperation.PillcapsulesnotonlymeetEthiopia鈥檚growingneeds,butalsohavebeenexportedtoneighboringcountries,whichbooststhecountry鈥檚industrializationdevelopment,鈥漵aidXieattheopeningceremonyofthesecond-phaseproductiononDecember14,2013.
Comparedwithinternationalpharmaceuticalcompanies,Chinesepharmaceuticalenterpriseshavetheadvantageofprovidinghigh-qualitymedicineataffordableprice.Onaverage,thepriceofaChinesemedicineisjustone-thirdthepriceoftheequivalentproductoverseas.
OtheroutstandingChinesepharmaceuticalcompanies,suchasGuilinPharma,KunmingPharmaceuticalCorp.,andChinaSinopharmInternationalCorp.,havealsobecomewell-knownbrandsinAfrica.SomehaveenteredAfricancountries鈥檔ationalprocurementsystem,whileothershaveestablishedgoodsaleschannels,builttheirbrands,andevensetuplocalbranches.
鈥淲hilelocalizingtheirproductionabroad,Chinesecompaniesshouldalsoconsiderlocalcustomers鈥檋abits,鈥漵aidCaoJun,DeputyDirectorofJiangsuInstituteofParasiticDiseases.
TraditionalChinesemedicinesareincreasinglyseenontheshelvesacrossAfricaXINHUALegalsupport
BoubacarnotedthatAfricawelcomesChineseTCMcompanies,butonlyqualifiedenterprisesandrealproducts,addingthathiscountryhasheavypunishmentforillegalmedicalpracticesandfakeandshoddymedicalproducts.
GuilinPharma,asubsidiaryoftheFosunPharmaGroup,hassignedathree-yearagreementin2016withtheAfricanCollaboratingCenterforPharmacovigilance,basedinGhana鈥檚capitalAccra,fordrugsafetysupervision,coveringthreeofGuilinPharma鈥檚anti-malariadrugs.
GuilinPharmaistheworld鈥檚leadingproducerofartesunate-amedicationusedtotreatmalaria-andcurrentlytheonlycompanyproducingWHOprequalifiedartesunateinjections.TheagreementisthefirstofitskindinAfricabetweenaglobalpharmaceuticalcompanyandanAfricaninstitutionspecializinginpharmacovigilance.
TCMhasalonghistoryinAfrica,whereithasbeenusedformorethan50years.InSouthAfricaespecially,thegovernmenthasattachedgreatimportancetothedevelopmentofTCM,andrecognizedthelegalstatusofTCMasearlyas2000,providingalegalsupportforitsdevelopmentinthecountry.
NkosazanaDlamini-Zuma,formerSouthAfricanMinisterofHealthandformerAfricanUnionCommissionChairperson,extendedawarmwelcometoBeijingTongrentangAfrica鈥檚arrivalinJohannesburg.ThefocusofTCMonprevention,ratherthanonlytreatment,meansmassivesavingsforSouthAfricanpeople,shesaidatthecompany鈥檚openingceremonylastNovember.
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