Suzhou Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., invested by the Japanese-owned Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co, held a foundation laying ceremony in SIP on April 17. Wang Jinhua, Chairman of Municipal Political Consultative Conference and Secretary of SIP Party Working Committee, attended the celebration activity on the day.

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Group of Japan is composed of 99 groups and its sales revenue in 2007 amounted to 853.9 billion Japanese yan, of which the overseas sales made up 307.5 billion yan, or 36%. Since the establishment of its first production facility in China in Tianjin in 1981, Otsuka has built up a network of 20 companies in Mainland China.

Otsuka Pharmaceutical, the investor of Suzhou plant, was founded in 1921 and began producing injections in 1946. The first phase of Suzhou plant, which costs USD78 million investment, will upon completion apply new technologies and new equipment to develop and produce high-quality injections and other related medical products for both domestic and overseas markets.

According to Sun Yanyan, Vice-director of Sipac, there have been a chain of over 50 pharmaceutical enterprises in SIP, many of which are devoted to R&D of biological medication, and SIP authorities will give consistent support to the investors with more preferential policies to ensure speedy returns and momentum for sustained growth in the pharmaceutical industry in SIP.