I. Why Hainan Matters in Pharma

Within China's provincial pharmaceutical landscape, Hainan is not among the largest in scale, yet it holds a combination of advantages that few other provinces can replicate: tropical southern medicinal plant resources, the free trade port's zero-tariff regime, and Boao Lecheng's unique special-access channel for unapproved overseas drugs and devices. For major pharmaceutical companies scouting strategic locations, this combination is rare worldwide.

This report draws on public government statistics, listed-company annual reports, and authoritative media coverage to map Hainan's pharmaceutical manufacturing as it actually stands — including areas where the data remain thin.

II. Haikou Drug Valley: The Province's Industrial Core

The Haikou National High-tech Zone is the undisputed center of Hainan's pharmaceutical manufacturing. In 2023, the province's 134 active pharmaceutical manufacturers collectively recorded industrial sales output of 28.15 billion yuan, up 10.2% year-on-year; Haikou's pharmaceutical industrial output for the same year exceeded 27 billion yuan, rising 10.4%. (Source: China News Network Hainan Channel and Haikou Municipal Government website, January 2024)

In 2024, the Haikou National High-tech Zone alone posted pharmaceutical industrial output of 21.57 billion yuan — 82.9% of Haikou's total and 79.9% of the entire province. (Source: Haikou Investment Promotion Bureau, January 2025) Put differently, nearly four-fifths of the province's pharmaceutical manufacturing output is concentrated in this single zone. In 2023, the "Haikou Drug Valley" bio-pharmaceutical cluster was named a national "SME Specialty Industrial Cluster" by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The cluster's spatial structure is evolving from a single hub to a multi-zone model. Hainan has established a "one core, three zones" layout: Haikou Drug Valley as the manufacturing core, with Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone, Sanya Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City, and Yangpu Economic Development Zone each taking on differentiated functions in medical services, bioscience research, and active pharmaceutical ingredient production. (Source: CPPCC National Committee website, October 2024)

III. Two Listed Companies, Two Strategies

Among Hainan's homegrown pharmaceutical listed companies, Puli Pharma and Hainan Haiyao represent distinctly different development paths.

Puli Pharma (SZSE: 300630, headquartered in Haikou) focuses on injectable formulations for international export. It operates production bases in Hainan, Zhejiang, and Anhui, with more than ten production lines certified by the FDA, European Medicines Agency, and WHO. In 2024, the company received FDA approval for injectable cyclophosphamide — its 14th ANDA granted that year — marking continued expansion of its international product portfolio. (Source: Sina Finance, December 2024) That said, the company's 2023 overall financial performance came under pressure, with revenues from multiple product categories declining by more than 50%, placing the business in a clear adjustment cycle.

Hainan Haiyao (SZSE: 000566) is a state-owned comprehensive pharmaceutical enterprise under the State Council's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. Its core businesses span pharmaceutical and medical device R&D, manufacturing, and sales, with three major production bases in Jiangsu, Chongqing, and Hainan forming an integrated chain from intermediates through active ingredients to finished dosage forms. First-quarter 2023 revenue came in at approximately 495 million yuan, down 10.58% year-on-year, broadly in line with the industry's cautious overall tone. (Source: Sina Finance; Hainan Haiyao 2023 Annual Report Summary)

One structural point worth noting: both companies hold significant manufacturing capacity outside Hainan island. When assessing the true scale of Hainan's pharmaceutical manufacturing, the portion of output generated at off-island facilities should be factored in.

IV. Boao Lecheng: A Card Beyond Manufacturing

The Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone was approved by the State Council in 2013, endowed with special permissions for compassionate use, medical research, international exchange, and commercial operations. As of early 2025, the zone had cumulatively introduced 518 types of clinically urgent imported drugs and medical devices (183 drugs, 335 devices), with 21 products having obtained formal Chinese market approval through Lecheng's real-world study pathway, and three of those subsequently listed in the National Medical Insurance Directory. (Source: Xinhua News Agency, March 2025)

In 2024, Lecheng received 413,700 medical tourism visits, up 36.8% year-on-year. Thirty-six medical institutions are now operating in the zone, including Hainan branches of top-tier mainland hospitals such as Ruijin and West China. (Source: China Food and Drug News, November 2025)

Lecheng's direct pull on pharmaceutical manufacturing is still forming. The "Lecheng for research and clinical use, Haikou for production" model aims to connect Lecheng's clinical trial data with Drug Valley's manufacturing capacity, but the publicly available evidence on how effectively that link has been operationalized remains limited.

In September 2024, five ministries including the Ministry of Finance jointly issued a policy granting zero-tariff treatment on imports of eligible drugs and medical devices by qualified institutions within Boao Lecheng — exempting both import duties and import-stage VAT. On December 31, 2024, the first zero-tariff shipment cleared customs at Boao Chao Super Hospital, covering goods valued at 572,000 yuan with approximately 74,000 yuan in taxes waived. (Source: China News Network, December 2024)

V. Southern Medicinal Resources: Distance Between Potential and Reality

Hainan is home to nearly 2,500 species of medicinal plants. Betel nut, longan seed (Alpinia oxyphylla), sand ginger, and Morinda officinalis — collectively known as the "four great southern medicines" — are all native to the island. Yet this resource endowment has not translated proportionately into manufacturing output.

The central constraint is regulatory: betel nut has not yet been added to the national food-medicine dual-use directory, making it difficult to obtain pharmaceutical batch numbers for finished dosage forms. Products remain largely in raw material form, commanding thin margins and weak market competitiveness. Representative southern-medicine-based finished products — such as Fengliao Intestinal Capsule, Baofukang Suppository, and Luohua Zicao Capsule — hold niche positions in the national TCM market but have not yet generated the scale needed to lift the sector as a whole.

The Hainan Province Southern Medicine Industry Development Plan (2022–2030) targets 50 billion yuan in southern-medicine health industry output by 2030. (Source: China News Network, November 2022) Whether that target is achievable depends on the pace of regulatory liberalization and whether supply-chain infrastructure can keep up.

VI. Structural Challenges

Small average enterprise scale. With 134 active manufacturers generating roughly 27 billion yuan in annual output, the average output per enterprise is approximately 200 million yuan — well below the scale of leading firms in Guangdong, Jiangsu, or Zhejiang.

Policy dividends misaligned with manufacturing capacity. Lecheng's drug and device access privileges currently benefit medical service institutions more than island-based manufacturers. The mechanism for linking Lecheng clinical data to Haikou production capacity is still being developed.

Southern medicine development constrained by national-level regulatory timing. Unlocking the full value of Hainan's medicinal plant resources depends on adjustments to the national food-medicine dual-use directory — a process beyond the province's unilateral control.

VII. Research Institute Assessment

Hainan's pharmaceutical manufacturing can be characterized by three concurrent narratives: one highly concentrated manufacturing hub (Haikou Drug Valley), one open-access experimental zone (Boao Lecheng), and a vast reservoir of tropical medicinal plant resources that remains largely untapped. The degree to which these three elements become mutually reinforcing will determine whether the province can convert its policy advantages into genuine manufacturing depth over the next decade.

From a sector timing perspective, 2023–2024 represents both an adjustment period and a phase of dense policy implementation. The first zero-tariff pharmaceutical shipment, the activation of the southern medicine development plan, and Lecheng's continued visitor growth are concrete milestones worth tracking in the years ahead.

Sales teams supplying upstream inputs to Hainan's pharmaceutical manufacturers can use Tianxia Gongchang to filter factory directories and key buyer contacts by region and industry, enabling rapid identification of procurement decision-makers within Hainan's pharmaceutical sector.

Data Sources

  • Tianxia Gongchang ( (Hainan pharmaceutical manufacturer directory and industry data)
  • China News Network Hainan Channel (Haikou pharmaceutical industrial output exceeded 27 billion yuan in 2023, January 2024)
  • Haikou Municipal Government website (Industry transformation grows "technology wings," January 2024)
  • Haikou Investment Promotion Bureau official website (Haikou National High-tech Zone 2024 pharmaceutical industrial output 21.57 billion yuan, January 2025)
  • CPPCC National Committee website (Hainan CPPCC proposes building a competitive bio-pharmaceutical cluster, October 2024)
  • Xinhua News Agency (Boao Lecheng unlocks healthcare industry momentum, March 2025)
  • China Food and Drug News (Lecheng high-quality development in practice, November 2025)
  • China News Network (Hainan free trade port drug/device zero-tariff policy first shipment cleared, December 2024)
  • Sina Finance (Puli Pharma 2024 FDA approvals, December 2024)
  • Hainan Haiyao Co., Ltd. 2023 Annual Report (SZSE, April 2024)
  • China News Network (Hainan nearly 2,500 medicinal plant species, southern medicine resources await development, November 2022)