Chongqing- It is one of the first pharmaceutical companies that benefit from the Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Europe Railway Express, said Leon Wang, Executive Vice president, International and China President of AstraZeneca. 

The Fourth Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (WCIFIT) Opening Ceremony and the 2022 CCI-ILSTC International Cooperation Forum kicked off on July 22 in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. 

Elites and experts from all industries discussed how to improve the supporting role of the regional industrial chain and supply chain and provided new ideas to deepen international cooperation through the New International Land-sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC) at the forum.

As a global, science-led biopharmaceutical business, AstraZeneca ranked first among all the multinational pharmaceutical companies in China's healthcare industry, with last year's sales in China totaling approximately USD 6 billion. 

Speaking of Chongqing's positions, Wang thinks that Chongqing has actively leveraged its role as a juncture of the Silk Road Economic Belt, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and the Yangtze River Economic Belt as an anchor in Western Development.

"Great endeavors have been made in facilitating corridors, building platforms, optimizing services, boosting economy and trade, and pooling together industries," he said. 

Wang saw tremendous opportunities to improve the efficiency of the global healthcare supply chain, and more possibilities for pharmaceutical transportation and medication assurance. 

Based on Chongqing's advantages, Wang looked ahead to the company's possibilities in Chongqing.

He said that the company would seize the opportunities provided by the ILSTC and explore new cooperation opportunities with Chongqing, the central and western regions of China, and the countries along the ILSTC. He especially expected Chongqing to be the most vital port for medicine import and export and a logistics hub in western China. 

"Since Chongqing has been approved to be a port for first-of-its-kind medicine import and biological agent, the company will take this chance to import more medical products, especially some new biological medicine to the Chinese market through the ILSTC and other opening-up platforms," said Wang. "Combining Chongqing's national top-level medical resources and the edge of local leading medical enterprises, the company will cooperate in the vaccine, new medicines, and digital medical care on all fronts."