China’s CRO industry has developed rapidly in recent years, with the market size rising from $1.3 billion in 2007 to $6.6 billion in 2014, registering a CAGR of 25.9%, according to a report from research and consulting firm Research and Markets.

With so many favorable policies, especially when a number of well-known proprietary drugs are about to expire, China’s CRO market size is expected to continue to grow by around 20% in the years ahead, to an estimated $12.9 billion by 2018.

Some European and American CRO enterprises represented by Quintiles and Covance have penetrated the Chinese market by establishing branches or through acquisition and cooperation. These foreign giants, which occupy the majority of China’s CRO market share, are driving the industry to develop toward standardization.

There are more than 500 Chinese CRO enterprises, such as WuXi AppTec, Tigermed Consulting, Boji Medical Biotechnological and HD Biosciences, which have a relatively large scale and develop very well. In 2014, WuXi AppTec represented a 9.69% market share while Tigermed Consulting and Boji Medical Biotechnological accounted for 1.47% and 0.34%, respectively.