Allergan banks on BRI for sustainable business expansion in the nation

After a 15-day rail journey from Europe, the first shipment of high-end medical aesthetic products from Ireland arrived in Chengdu.

The 100-million-yuan ($14.9 million) shipment was the first pharmaceutical company Allergan had sent via the China-EU Express Railway and it cleared customs in Chengdu on April 15.

"So far we have sent the first shipment and we are happy about that," said Marc Princen, executive vice-president of Allergan, adding that the clearance time only took three days, the cost was "tremendously better" and the shipment time was shortened by half compared to other means of transportation. For Princen, the Belt and Road Initiative, of which the cross-continental China-EU Express Railway is a part, is of benefit to the company.

Following the arrival of the products, Allergan also launched its first Chinese innovation center in Chengdu on April 16, which will be used to educate and train medical workers. Asked why the company picked Chengdu, Princen said the local way of thinking matched the company's vision.

"It is the mindset here, the openness to receive us and openness to find solutions," he said. "We received support from the government to identify the right building and infrastructure for the innovation center and training.

"The government is also flexible, for example the (shortened) clearance time, which is crucial for us. Together with the warehouse, the talents with language skills to facilitate the business, they are all good factors that made us want to work here. We are also the first foreign medical aesthetic company here."

"The import and export volume of drugs in and out of Chengdu puts it in the country's top 10, and it will benefit from the international logistic infrastructure under the Belt and Road Initiative," said Chen Wei, dean of the Zhangjiang Platform Institute of Economics, a think tank. "Chengdu is located in the center of a market covering a population of 380 million… it will become a key city in the medicine supply chain under the BRI."

Medical aesthetic products are a fast-emerging business. According to SoYoung, China's leading medical aesthetic platform, in 2018, the market in China was worth 224.5 billion yuan, up 27.57 percent year-on-year, and Chengdu is aiming to turn itself into a center of medical aesthetic business.

In 2018, Chengdu released a development plan to push its medical aesthetic industry revenue to over 100 billion yuan by 2025, and to further double the number by 2030.

Such a goal reflects Allergan's ambition to explore and foster the massive potential of the Chinese market.

"A few years ago, we had $50 million to $60 million revenue here in China. We almost tripled the number of employees to 870 in the same period, showing that we really want to develop in China," Princen said.

He said currently China only contributed a relatively small share of its global revenue of $15 billion, but looking forward, Allergan believed that by 2025 its business in China will be worth at least $1 billion.

"China is the biggest single opportunity for Allergan," said Princen.