Over the past decade, China’s pharmaceutical industry has completed a breathtaking leap forward — compressing into ten years a journey that took the United States three to four decades. Today, we stand at a new inflection point: the global hub for innovative drug transactions is shifting from a single U.S. engine to a dual-engine structure driven by both the U.S. and China.

As the global biopharma industry navigates a new technology cycle and geopolitical capital dynamics, the key question for everyone in the field is no longer “Does China matter?” Rather, now that China has become a core component of the global innovative drug deal-making system, the question is: Are you deeply embedded in it?

Answering that question requires more than a slogan — it calls for a truly functional platform where Chinese innovation assets can complete global transactions on the ground.

TONACEA, having been deeply rooted in China’s biomedical innovation ecosystem for over two decades, is stepping up to address this challenge of our time. From July 22 to 24, 2026, TONACEA will host the 1st China Pharmaceutical Innovation Conference (CPIC 2026) at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), anchored in the paradigm of  “China Innovation – Global Partnerships – Shanghai Dealmaking.”

This is not a traditional industry gathering. It is a strategic platform built against the backdrop of a U.S.-China dual-hub transaction system, with the explicit goal of turning cross-border deal-making into reality.

So, now that China has become an indispensable pole in the global innovative drug transaction system, the real question is: Are you ready?

01 

The Eye of the Storm

Every storm has a starting point.

Over the past 24 months, the disclosed value of out-licensing deals for Chinese innovative drugs has grown exponentially. Multinational corporations are systematically sourcing innovative assets from China. In cutting-edge fields such as ADCs, bispecific antibodies, cell therapy, and even AI-driven drug discovery, China has become the world’s most dynamic source of supply.

The most critical shift is this: China is no longer the low-cost manufacturing and clinical execution center of the past. It is now emerging as one of the global “price makers” for innovative drug assets.

As the global deal-making landscape is reshaped, a deeper question comes to the surface: China already accounts for more than one-third of global deal flow, yet it still lacks a dedicated transaction platform commensurate with that scale.

As industry insiders have observed, the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference has become a global bellwether because the CEOs and CFOs of some 300 public companies present their past-year performance and future outlooks there, drawing thousands of investors, analysts, and BD professionals to converge in one place. Two months after the conference ends, a significant number of institutions are still digesting and debating the future direction of the healthcare industry.

“China’s innovative drug sector needs its own transaction compass.” That is the starting point for Cheng Zengjiang, founder of TONACEA, in launching CPIC 2026. He repeatedly emphasizes that while the underlying logic of this conference is benchmarked against the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, it is by no means a simple imitation.

Cheng describes CPIC 2026 as a piece of strategic infrastructure — a “structured gateway” into China’s innovative drug transaction system. “Its core mission is to identify the future direction of the global healthcare industry from a Chinese perspective and to turn potential collaborations into executable deal pathways,” he says.

02

 Who Will Be There?

For every attendee, the most fundamental question is always: “Who can I meet at this conference?”

“If our conference only had 300 people, the number of people you could find would be limited. But with over a thousand speakers and even more non-speaking CEOs and chairpersons in attendance, the chances of finding the right partner open up dramatically,” Cheng reveals. Chairpersons, Chief Scientific Officers, and vice-president-level executives from China’s top pharmaceutical companies will be deeply engaged. Founders and CEOs of emerging biotechs will attend in person. Also present will be business heads from CROs and CDMOs, founding teams from AI drug discovery companies, and investment leaders from VC, PE, and crossover funds.

For CPIC 2026’s main forum — designed to be the “industry bellwether” — Cheng is determined to build a thought leadership hub that interprets the future direction of healthcare both in China and globally. He is inviting the core decision-makers of Chinese innovative drug development, assembling virtually all of the captains of highly innovative, high-market-cap listed companies.

Top scientists from Changping Laboratory and Lingang Laboratory will also take the stage. From basic research to industry strategy, they will address macro-level questions such as “What is the path forward for M&A in China?” and “Why do Chinese new drugs still lack sufficient global registration traction?”

Sixty in-depth, highly specialized parallel sessions form the deal-making backbone of the conference. Across every hot therapeutic modality — oligonucleotides, cell and gene therapy, radiopharmaceuticals, CNS, AI-driven drug discovery — the invited speakers are not general educators, but founders and CEOs who hold R&D decision-making power and have concrete business development needs. Their presentations will focus explicitly on what their companies are building, what stage of development they have reached, and how they hope to collaborate with the broader industry.

As a result, whether you are a biotech looking for an ADC partner or a CDMO specializing in radiopharmaceutical CRO services, you can — within just two days — efficiently connect with virtually the entire network of decision-makers in your field through the corresponding parallel sessions.

03 

Beyond the Handshake

At a large-scale conference with over a thousand speakers, however, unstructured networking can easily devolve into an inefficient “Brownian motion” — wandering around randomly and then leaving. CPIC 2026 aims to solve this dilemma with a structured deal-making system.

TONACEA has already published the core speaker list in advance through the CPIC website, its WeChat official account, and the “CPIC 2026” content hub. A one-on-one meeting scheduling system — complete with an English user guide — is now live. Attendees can identify their targets and book meetings ahead of time. For companies with specific needs, the organizers also provide personalized guidance and targeted matchmaking assistance.

The conference further designs diverse settings such as luncheons and themed cocktail receptions to foster a relaxed atmosphere for in-depth conversations. Parallel session presentations are strictly time-boxed (e.g., 15 minutes), intentionally reserving ample space for interaction and maximizing engagement.

A deal is not the finish line, but a new beginning. TONACEA will extend the CPIC 2026 community beyond the event itself, organizing regional follow-up activities and curating ongoing, in-depth connections in specific fields. For companies requiring deeper, continuous matchmaking, a membership service will provide year-round, uninterrupted precision support.

04 

A Strategic Window

At a moment when China’s innovative drug assets are rising in both volume and value, the significance of CPIC 2026 transcends the three-day conference itself. It lies in the ecosystem it aims to activate — one centered on the pricing and transaction of Chinese innovative drug assets.

For North American companies that must cross the ocean, this ecosystem’s relevance is especially direct. Rather than viewing the trip as a travel expense, participation in CPIC 2026 should be understood as an investment in market-entry efficiency. Instead of spending months on inefficient remote communication, you can use a concentrated three-day window to fully embed yourself into China’s core BD network and deal-making ecosystem.

There is no doubt that China has become an indispensable link in the global innovative drug transaction system. CPIC 2026 is shaping up to be the strategic window that no stakeholder in this ecosystem can afford to miss.

Standing at this historic juncture, as the global innovative drug landscape is being redrawn, we sincerely look forward to joining hands with you — to answer this strategic invitation from China together.