China is wooing global pharmaceutical giants with the pledge of faster approvals for innovative medicines and local production, as Beijing seeks to open its healthcare sector wider amid US efforts to contain its biotech ambitions.

The National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) will align its regulatory framework further with international standards to facilitate multinational clinical trials, its Commissioner Li Li told reporters at a briefing in Beijing on Friday. The regulator will also review and approve innovative medicines as swiftly as in developed markets.

The drug authority also encouraged multinational drugmakers to move more production of innovative medicines and medical equipments to China, while pledging to expedite approval and import of rare disease therapies, according to NMPA officials at the briefing.

China is further opening its pharmaceutical and healthcare market to spur growth, as the world’s second-largest economy struggles to gain momentum amid a property slump and rising tensions with major trade partners.

The drug regulator’s pledge came on top of latest easing measures that includes allowing foreign investments in cell and gene therapies and wholly owned foreign hospitals.

By encouraging production of new drugs and medical equipment in China, the government seeks to cement China’s dominance in the global drug manufacturing supply chain. That comes as US lawmakers are pushing to get the so-called Bioscure Act into law, which would force global drugmakers to sever their ties with Chinese biotech firms, such as WuXi AppTec Co, on whom they have relied on for drug research and manufacturing.

  - Bloomberg