NETDA's medical, health industry: A rising, leading sector

Nantong city, in East China's Jiangsu province, has reportedly decided to boost its health industry to prepare for the accelerating demands of public health.

The Nantong Economic & Technological Development Area or NETDA – located in Nantong – in recent years has given its full support to the development of the medical and health industry in the development zone. It has focused on strengthening and enlarging the health industry supply chain, while speeding up the introduction and cultivation of leading enterprises.  

Fast-growing industrial scale

There are 31 medical and health industrial enterprises above a designated size  – companies with annual revenue of more than 20 million yuan ($3.09 million) in the development zone, with sales revenue of 18.45 billion yuan in 2020, up 20.1 percent year-on-year.  From January to July this year, their taxable sales revenue reached 10.61 billion yuan, up 9.3 percent.  

Increasing number of leading industrial enterprises

The NETDA boasts key local health industrial enterprises such as Siegfried (Nantong) Pharmaceutical Co Ltd – a 140-year-old Swiss multinational enterprise specializing in the production and trade of crude drug substances and intermediates.

Strong R&D capability, innovation

The medical and health industry in the NETDA is characterized by intensive intellectual capital, high science and technology content and a strong ability to innovate. The development zone has cultivated 18 high-tech enterprises, set up more than 30 R&D institutions above the city level and owned more than 2,000 patents, among which more than 200 items are invention patents.