Senior company executives forecasted that there would be 30 percent growth in sales as sales rose to 3.3 billion yuan in 2008.

Jeffrey, chief executive officer, Novartis China said that 2008 is the best year in their sales in recent years, in spite of the financial turmoil.

This year, a global sales growth of five percent is Novartis’ target. According to Li, the proportion of Novartis’ global sales in China is one percent.

2.26 billion yuan has already been invested and more will be laid in establishing infrastructure, research and development (R&D) and marketing, the CEO said.

The sharp contrast is that during other multinationals are cutting jobs, 20 percent more staff are planned to be hire by the company for the expansion plans in China.

The company will focus on the talent training. Li showed that the company would spend double money on talent training.

From this year, Novartis China will pay more attention to Local community clinics in China in order to benefit from China medical reform program.

It will help train doctors and instruct patients at the clinics. What is more, diagnosis and therapy standards for commonly and frequently encountered diseases will be popularized in public by Novartis China.

In 2008, Novartis China started the establishment of its R&D center in Shanghai, which is the third biggest within the group and ranks top in Asia.

Li added that Novartis is the only foreign pharmaceutical company to integrate comprehensive fundamental research work in China.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs granted the honour of the 2008 China Charity Award to Novartis China for donating cash and drugs worth more than 15 million yuan during the Sichuan earthquake.

The primary school in Sichuan, constructed with 1 million yuan which was donated by the employees from Novartis China is expected to put into use later this year.

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

China is one of the world’s great growth markets and is likely to be for many years to come. Foreign companies often face difficulties in assessing Chinese market demand and enacting effective strategies because of the language barriers, culture differences, and high expense.

BPOVIA is the leading virtual assistant and Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) service provider in China. BPOVIA is the only virtual assistant company ever been nominated for the prestigious “Red Herring 100 Asia” Awards 2008. Combines international perspective with local know-how, BPOVIA can provide our clients China business development service and help our clients doing successful business in China.

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

“A permanent FDA presence in China will help us address the challenges presented by globalization,” FDA commissioner Andrew Von Eschebath said at the opening ceremony. They want to cooperate with the Chinese government and manufacturers to make all the FDA standards are met before the food shipment to the United States.

Two more offices will be opened in China, one in Shanghai and the other in Shenzhen. According to Christopher director, eight staff will be stationed in China. They will include inspectors and senior technical experts on regulation, policy, food, medicines and medical devices. They will offer their Chinese counterparts their experience and expertise.

They are responsible for inspecting local facilities, providing guidance on US quality standards, and training local experts to execute inspections on behalf of the FDA.

The opening of the FDA office “provide a very clear signal to the whole world”, said Shao Mingli, deputy health minister and head of China’s State Food and Drug Administration. He noted that their first priority and top responsibility is to protect public health and life. The direct reason for the opening of FDA China is the contamination scandal that caused babies die and 53,000 fall ill this year.

Last week, the FDA issued an “important alert” which said by Eschenbath is a regular practice within the FDA’s regulatory framework, may contain “dairy ingredients”. They urge the importers to ensure the products to be free of such ingredients or melamine, or else they will deny the product entry.

Eschenbath noted that the US would support China to resolve the problem. According to David Achenson, FDA associate commissioner for foods, there is no limit for the lifting of the alert; it depends on the speed of resolving the problem. He still mentioned the United States will continue to import food from China and the amount is going to increase.

The United States imported about $320 billion in products last year, and around $4.4 billion comprised food. According to the data from the US Census Bureau, nearly half of it was seafood. Also, Chen Zhu, Health Minister said on Tuesday that China will send food and quality control officials to the US in the future.

Experts welcome the potential partnership. Setting up offices in both countries will help promote mutual understanding and share more facility information, said Chen Junshi, a senior researcher with the Chinese National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety.

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

China is one of the world’s great growth markets and is likely to be for many years to come. Foreign companies often face difficulties in assessing Chinese market demand and enacting effective strategies because of the language barriers, culture differences, and high expense.

BPOVIA is the leading virtual assistant and Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) service provider in China. BPOVIA is the only virtual assistant company ever been nominated for the prestigious “Red Herring 100 Asia” Awards 2008. Combines international perspective with local know-how, BPOVIA can provide our clients China business development service and help our clients doing successful business in China.

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.