Wuxi provides one-stop services for drug imports

Wuxi Aviation Port received the first shipment of imported semi-finished drugs for AstraZeneca from Chicago, Illinois, the United States on March 7.

Wuxi Aviation Port and Jiangyin Port received approval from China's National Medical Products Administration to import drugs last September, which will benefit pharmaceutical enterprises by reducing the time and costs associated with the importing of drugs.

According to officials, AstraZeneca submitted the customs filing and inspection materials for drug imports via the China International Trade Single Window. The local market supervision bureau issued the first "Customs Clearance Form for Imported Drugs" in Wuxi on March 5.

Leon Wang, executive vice-president of AstraZeneca and head of AstraZeneca China, spoke highly of the high-quality and efficient government service in Wuxi.

Wang said that the direct drug-import shipment in Wuxi can save at least seven hours compared to the previous transshipment from Shanghai. AstraZeneca will continue to deepen its development in Wuxi and gradually expand its production capacity, Wang added.

Officials said that the Wuxi market supervision bureau and the Wuxi drug safety inspection and testing center will be responsible for the managing and inspecting of imported drugs in Wuxi.

Wuxi's pharmaceutical industry has witnessed rapid growth in recent years. In 2020, the total scale of its biopharmaceutical industry reached 113.6 billion yuan ($17.4 billion). The output value of the pharmaceutical industry above designated size reached 55.77 billion yuan, according to official data.