BEIJING, Dec. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — On December 2nd, the Administrative Committee of the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (Beijing E-Town) and the Sanofi Group signed a memorandum of cooperation to establish a new production and manufacturing base with an investment of approximately one billion euros. Once completed, this project will create a comprehensive insulin formulation product line from active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to finished drugs, significantly enhancing Beijing E-Town’s medical and health industry landscape. It also holds important strategic implications for the security of China’s insulin supply chain.
“Sanofi is confident in the long-term development potential of the Chinese market. The Chinese government’s policies promoting opening up and innovation, as well as the excellent business environment it fosters for foreign enterprises, have injected strong confidence into Sanofi’s deep participation in China’s economic development and support for high-quality growth in the pharmaceutical industry,” said Frédéric Oudéa, Chairman of the Board at Sanofi. As one of the first foreign enterprises to settle in Beijing E-Town, Sanofi, a global leader in innovative healthcare, has continuously increased its investments in China. Starting with an initial investment of $240 million (approximately 1.7 billion yuan) in 1995, followed by an additional 500 million yuan in 2022, and now a substantial investment of one billion euros (approximately 7.66 billion yuan) in 2024, Sanofi has consistently chosen Beijing and embraced E-Town through these consecutive investments.
Warm Services in E-Town Earn Multinational Corporations’ Vote of Confidence
In April of this year, upon learning of Sanofi’s intention to invest in China, Beijing E-Town promptly established a dedicated service team. This included assembling expert groups, analyzing company needs, and detailing task lists — work schedules were meticulously planned down to the hour.
The attention to detail went even further. Beijing E-Town estimated the project’s land requirements and supporting needs, selecting high-standard plots and preparing necessary infrastructure for water, electricity, gas, heat, and roads in advance. During site selection visits, they set up observation points and produced English-language reception manuals. Through over 20 meetings, designated personnel maintained close communication with Sanofi’s various liaison officers, establishing a “zero-latency” response mechanism. Staff worked around the clock, ensuring timely coordination and handling of all requests, which fostered a closer relationship between Sanofi’s team and E-Town officials. The exceptional services received high praise from Sanofi, whose different business unit leaders expressed satisfaction during four separate visits to select the location.
“Although we have been friends with E-Town for 30 years, this project’s implementation has once again highlighted the excellent business environment and attentive service that E-Town offers,” remarked Frédéric Oudéa.
The vote of confidence from multinational corporations also reflects the achievements of collaborative efforts at both municipal and district levels. The medical and health industry is one of the two key drivers of Beijing’s innovative development. Under the high-level attention and strategic coordination of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and People’s Government, a joint service plan was formulated by both the municipal government and BDA to enhance communication with Sanofi. By working together to address the operational challenges faced by the company, these efforts have reinforced Sanofi’s confidence in investing in China.
Rooted in E-Town for 30 Years: Fertile Business Soil Underpins Sanofi’s Steadfast Choice
In the production halls of Sanofi, machines operate at breakneck speed, assembling a life-saving insulin pen for diabetes patients every eight seconds. On this U-shaped assembly and packaging line, each shift can package over 60,000 units, with finished products continuously rolling off the line.
From initially handling single-product repackaging to now locally producing formulations for four products like Lantus, and assembling over twenty varieties including Toujeo, the Beijing factory has evolved into Sanofi’s largest insulin injection production base in the Asia-Pacific region. Now, for the first time, it is setting up biotherapeutic API production domestically. Over three decades, what remains unchanged is the consistently attentive service and mutual trust, while what has evolved includes increasingly refined government services, a fair legal environment, forward-looking spatial planning, and an excellent industrial ecosystem.
Refined government services have been integral throughout every phase of Sanofi’s development — from coordinating review and approval agencies for pre-emptive professional guidance, regularly visiting enterprises to address needs and difficulties, to exploring future directions. Beijing E-Town adheres to the principle that “what enterprises need is what E-Town aims to achieve,” supporting Sanofi’s expansion and market reach. A fair legal environment continuously stimulates market vitality, providing solid support for each product launch and production increase by Sanofi. In this equitable competitive landscape, Sanofi actively engages in market activities, contributing significantly to the regional biopharmaceutical industry. Forward-looking spatial planning is reflected in the continuous optimization of industrial layout, setting high standards for major projects, facilitating smooth project commissioning and efficiency. An excellent industrial ecosystem strengthens Sanofi’s development confidence, allowing better integration of international and domestic resources, leveraging its role as a “chain leader,” and achieving synchronous development with the industry.
Brendan O’Callaghan, Executive Vice President of Sanofi’s Executive Committee and Head of Manufacturing and Supply, noted, “These factors have further strengthened our confidence in developing in China, in Beijing, and in E-Town.”
Sanofi’s increased investment and production capacity expansion are just one example of the growing biopharmaceutical cluster in Beijing E-Town and the ongoing release of development opportunities. The Eli Lilly China Medical Innovation Center, the company’s first innovation incubator outside the U.S., Pfizer’s Beijing R&D Center, Bayer’s first open innovation center in China, AstraZeneca’s Global R&D Beijing Center, Medtronic’s Digital Services Innovation Base, and HuyaBio’s headquarters… At the conclusion of the 2024 International Biopharmaceutical Industry Innovation Beijing Forum on October 26th, six multinational pharmaceutical companies chose to establish themselves in Beijing E-Town, landing in Beijing’s Biomedical Innovation Park (BioPark), deepening their business layouts in China.
Today, Beijing E-Town has gathered nearly 5,000 biopharmaceutical companies, including 124 large-scale industrial enterprises, 23 national-level specialized, refined, unique, and new ‘little giants,’ with an industrial output value close to 90 billion yuan, accounting for half of Beijing’s total. Relevant officials from the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area stated they will accelerate the creation of a biopharmaceutical innovation hub, promoting more breakthroughs in innovative drugs and devices, continuous landing of new projects, and ongoing optimization of the industrial environment, striving to become the preferred choice for multinational enterprises seeking investment and development.
105 Fortune 500 Companies Choose E-Town: A Testimony to World-Class Business Environment
Beyond the “Sanofi Project,” as early as late October this year, six multinational pharmaceutical companies chose to establish themselves in Beijing E-Town. The robust growth of foreign enterprises in Beijing E-Town vividly demonstrates the unique appeal of this fertile ground for enterprise development. From their initial entry into E-Town to firmly taking root, these corporate gems have propelled high-level openness with impressive achievements, continuously updating the city’s development “progress bar.” To date, 105 Fortune 500 companies have invested in 160 projects within Beijing E-Town.
As the only national-level economic and technological development area in Beijing, E-Town is a crucial window for the capital’s high-level opening up to the outside world. Beijing E-Town vigorously implements its strategy of quality development enhancement, focusing on the “44637” industrial development system. Guided by the construction of the “Two Zones,” it intensifies efforts to promote and serve foreign investment through policy support, premium services, platform building, and an excellent industrial environment, thereby enhancing the “E-Town Brand” of business environment.
Beijing E-Town continues to refine its industrial organization model, involving “science and technology industry coordination departments + industrial bureaus + specialized teams + platform companies + element support.” It compiles and improves its policy toolkit, providing “2 (policy + measures) + X (support item list)” policy support for foreign-invested enterprises to further boost foreign investors’ confidence. By closely aligning with the needs of enterprise development, it has introduced a full-lifecycle service mechanism for enterprises, smoothing out bottlenecks in business processes, and offering more convenient and efficient market entry services. Talent service mechanisms are being optimized with updated policies to attract world-class high-level scientific and technological innovation talents. Relying on the “E-Town Living Room,” an international talent service area has been established, along with multi-lingual volunteer service teams, providing “one-stop” services to create a welcoming government service environment for foreigners investing and doing business. Continuously improving its high-level open economy mechanism, Beijing E-Town actively participates in the high-quality co-construction of the “Belt and Road Initiative,” expanding international cooperation. It makes full use of platforms such as the Boao Forum for Asia Global Health Forum, the 2024 Beijing International Biopharmaceutical Industry Innovation Forum, the World Robot Conference, and the Intelligent Connected Vehicle Conference to attract and utilize foreign investment more effectively.
“A world-class business environment should be subtle yet impactful. Only by truly addressing the perspectives of foreign-invested enterprises and foreign talents and solving practical problems can we further enhance their confidence in development,” said an official from the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area. “We will continue to improve service models and policy accessibility, ensuring that more multinational enterprises feel the ‘warmth of E-Town’ and ‘Beijing Service.'”
Looking ahead, Beijing E-Town will remain committed to its role as a key platform for Beijing’s international science and technology innovation center and a stronghold for high-end industries. It will continue to advance high-level openness, striving to create an investment environment aligned with international standards, a vibrant and open business environment, and a livable and business-friendly development environment. This will attract more multinational enterprises, new products, and technologies, replicating more “Sanofi Projects” on this land, and continuously expanding the circle of friends for high-quality development in the capital.
Source: The Administrative Committee of the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (Beijing E-Town)
