China biotech's 'coming-out party' masks long road ahead as innovation still lacking

Shanghai

INVESTORS are betting on China's potential to feed the global pharmaceutical pipeline, putting a multibillion-dollar price tag on a handful of stocks, even as the country struggles to close a huge R&D gap with the West.

Shares in firms such as Chi-Med, Beigene and Zai Lab have soared on international markets this year, fuelled by hopes for their drugs and recent reforms to China's regulatory system that should speed up approvals.