2017-03-29

On March 29^th, 2017, Chairman ZHANG Yi was invited to head the Delegation to visit Yunnan Phytopharmaceutical Co., Ltd, and met with Mr. FAN Hong, Vice President of Yunnan Industrial Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd, Mr. LIN Jiahong, Chairman of the Board of Yunnan Phytopharmaceutical Co., Ltd and Ms. ZHOU Min, General Manager of Yunnan Phytopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Both parties had the full discussion as for Sino-European pharmaceutical cooperation. The Delegation of ECMDC is also consisted of Deputy Secretary General HU Zhenming, Mr. Shiloh Miller, Member of the Council of ECMDC and General Secretary of Israel Belgium Chamber of Commerce and Mr. Henrich Guntermann, Member of the Council of ECMDC and CEO of European Consortium of Technology Transfer (ECTT).

Mr. ZHANG Yi, Mr. Shiloh Miller (Right Two), Mr. Henrich Guntermann (Left Two) and Mr. FAN Hong (Right Three), Mr. LIN Jiahong (Right One), Ms. ZHOU Min (Left One)

Yunnan Phytopharmaceutical Co., Ltd (YP) is the subsidiary company of Yunnan Industrial Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd. YP is a large-scale state-owned pharmaceutical company with the history of more than 60 years in the field of medical R & D and marketing. YP has several subsidiary pharmaceutical companies as well. The business of YP is mainly concerned with the plantation and processing of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, and R & D, production and marketing for crude medicine, plant medicine, chemical medicine and healthcare materials. YP produces 231 types of medicine including 7 unique medicines in China. Its products are targeted at cardiovascular disease, nervous system disease, respiratory disease, digestive disease, gynecological disease, tumor and ophthalmology. In the spirit of “Originating from Nature, Caring for Health”, YP makes full use of natural plant resources of Yunnan Province, and is focused on the healthcare business with the purpose of becoming the largest plant medicine supplier with the feature of Yunnan Province in China. YP spares no effort of providing the best, the safest and the most effective healthcare products to the patients.

The Field Investigation

In company with Mr. LIN Jiahong and Ms. ZHOU Min, the Delegation of ECMDC had the field investigation of the factory of YP. In line with the urban planning of Kunming city, YP selected a new site and removed its original factory in the downtown to the present location, which is with the ideal environment. The new factory officially came into use in 2012. The new factory is equipped with the first-rate facilities. The Delegation was greatly impressed by state-of-the-art equipment, rigorous operative procedures of pharmaceutical production and the devotion of employees to their work.

The Official Meeting

After the field investigation, the Delegation held the meeting with Mr. FAN Hong, Mr. LIN Jiahong and Mr. ZHOU Min. Mr. FAN Hong represented Mr. LIU Wenzhang, Chairman of the Board of Yunnan Industrial Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd (YIIH) and other senior managers to extend the warm welcome to the visiting of the Delegation. He said, after nearly two years’ negotiation, YIIH and ECMDC intend to establish the close partnership, and jointly promote Sino-European pharmaceutical cooperation. The field investigation of the Delegation will help ECMDC to know YP and YIIH, which enables both parties to find the entry point for the cooperation.

Mr. ZHANG Yi expressed his gratitude to the considerate arrangement of YIIH and YP. He remarked, Yunnan Province is the plant kingdom of China, while the traditional Chinese medicine is the national essence of China. Against the background that the people all around the world are seeking the natural, healthy and high-quality life style, ECMDC intends to introduce the high-quality medicines of YP into Europe, which are distilled from natural plants in accordance with the essence of traditional Chinese medicine. It will not only provide more healthcare choices for Europeans, but also enable Europeans to know traditional Chinese medicine and culture in a better way. As a European NGO, ECMDC is quite willing to bring the products of YP to European market, while introducing the advanced European pharmaceutical technologies and skills into YP.

Ms. ZHOU Min represented YP to make the detailed introduction of the history of YP and its achievements, key products. Afterwards, Mr. LIN Jiahong aired his opinion on how to broaden vision to undertake Sino-European pharmaceutical cooperation. He said, traditional Chinese medicine itself is a healthcare system with Chinese characteristics. It is inevitable for YP to make the necessary adjustment if YP wants to enter European and global market. YP is consistently dedicated to the domestic market in China, and knows little about the international market. Therefore, YP is quite willing to work with ECMDC and its European partners to find the best way of introducing the products of YP into the global market. 

Mr. Henrich Guntermann is the professional person who has been in bio-pharmaceutical business for quite a long time. He made a series of enquiries into the features and effects of YP products from the perspective of the expert. He pointed out that, the first step for YP to enter European market is to make the systematic filing of its own products, and provide the detailed introduction of each product, clinical data and all the legal documents from the concerned authorities in China. He suggested that the paperwork be undertaken step by step in order to make the publicity of YP products in Europe. In the meanwhile, European Consortium of Technology Transfer will fully mobilize its experts and resources in the sector of European healthcare to elaborately select the best partners for YP. The future cooperation will cover the joint R & D, technology transfer, promotion and marketing.

Mr. Shiloh Miller said, both parties should think outside the box in order to find the new patterns for Sino-European pharmaceutical cooperation. The harmony of man with nature, the keynote of traditional Chinese medicine, is also the prevalent philosophy of life for many Europeans of today. It will be very meaningful if both parties manage to formulate the promotion plan from the comprehension perspective of Europeans in order to bring YP products to Europe. Traditional Chinese medicine is made of natural plants and herbs with the good effects for health, which means they can be developed to other derivative products and enter European market in an easy way. The successful selling of derivative products in Europe will surely create the favorable conditions for the future marketing of YP products in Europe.

Mr. FAN Hong, Mr. LIN Jiahong and Ms. ZHOU Min expressed their thanks for the advices and suggestions of the Delegation. They believed that with the support of ECMDC, YP will establish the close partnership with European counterparts and make the international marketing possible. YP is looking forward to working closely with ECMDC.

Both parties had the further discussion on the road map for the follow-up, and reached the consensus. YP will prepare the proposal for the cooperation in line with its own appeals, and submit it to ECMDC. In accordance with the actual demands of YP, ECMDC will select the best European partners, and jointly bring YP products to European market.