Chinese Biotech Exports Surge to $137.7B as U.S. Drugmakers Rush to Acquire Chinese Candidates

China's biotech industry is experiencing explosive growth, with the value of overseas technology transfer agreements reaching $137.7 billion in 2025 — nearly ten times the amount in 2021 — as global pharmaceutical companies race to acquire Chinese drug candidates. Every week, more than $1 billion worth of new drug licensing contracts are being announced, making annual technology exports of roughly $100 billion the "new normal" for China's new drug development sector. The surge is simultaneously raising security concerns among U.S. lawmakers about strategic dependence on Chinese biotech.

BeiGene, a Chinese biotech firm founded just over 15 years ago, has become a symbolic example of China's pharmaceutical ascent. The company reached approximately $5.4 billion in sales in 2025, surpassing Hengrui Medicine — long considered China's largest pharmaceutical company — which reported about $4.8 billion in sales. The primary driver behind BeiGene's growth is Brukinsa (zanubrutinib), a blood cancer treatment targeting chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) that generated more than $4 billion in worldwide sales in 2025 as a single product. Brukinsa was the first anti-cancer drug developed by a Chinese company to obtain U.S. FDA approval, and as of 2025 it has become the first-line standard of care for CLL in major global markets. In a head-to-head clinical trial against Imbruvica, an established CLL treatment, Brukinsa demonstrated a roughly 35% reduction in the risk of disease progression and death. BeiGene now collects more than 60% of its total sales in overseas markets.

U.S. pharmaceutical giants are aggressively tapping into China's expanding pipeline of next-generation therapies, including antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and multi-specific antibodies, driven by looming patent expirations. U.S. companies could face a revenue gap of up to $200 billion around 2030. Pfizer recently agreed to a cancer drug development deal with China's Innovent Biologics worth up to $10.5 billion, involving 12 early-stage cancer drug candidates. Pfizer will pay an upfront fee of $650 million, with remaining payments tied to milestones in development, approval, and commercialization. In the first half of 2025, U.S. companies completed 14 technology transfer agreements with Chinese firms valued at up to $18.3 billion, compared to just two agreements during the same period the previous year.

However, the trend is evolving from a purely commercial strategy into a national security debate. U.S. lawmakers have begun to view growing dependence on Chinese biotech as a security risk similar to reliance on rare earth materials. The chair of the U.S. House China Task Force has urged the Treasury Department to include biotech in the list of sectors subject to investment restrictions, and the U.S. International Trade Commission is examining the impact of Chinese government support for the industry on U.S. companies. At the same time, some argue that increased regulation could delay drug development and hinder the strengthening of pipelines for major pharmaceutical companies. China's total technology exports reached approximately $135 billion in 2025, more than doubling from $52 billion in 2024, underscoring the scale of the industry's momentum.