Qian Jin, the corporation's general manager, told the media late last month: "We plan to list the group as a whole within three years to collect enough funds for our expansion."

Huang Jie, a senior publicity officer with the corporation's general management office, told China Daily that management has yet to decide on whether the initial public offering (IPO) will be offered overseas, possibly in the Hong Kong Administrative Region, or in the Shanghai stock market.

"Anyway, we hope to have the whole group listed by the end of 2005," he said. The corporation's IPO plan aims to serve its ambitions for domestic and international expansion.

Under its development plans, the corporation aims to become a "national" pharmaceutical business by 2008 by establishing China's largest pharmaceutical product logistics centre and by spreading its sales networks throughout the country.

The group also aims to take hold of international market after getting listed.

"We hope to take a bite of the United States and European markets the following year," Qian said.

Qian added that his company, compared with overseas pharmaceutical businesses, has a competitive edge in traditional Chinese medicine research and development.

The corporation achieved total sales of 4.57 billion yuan (US$553 million) in the first four months of this year, up 12.73 per cent over the same period last year.

The corporation's sales currently account for around 8 per cent of the country's total.

Last August, the China Worldbest Group, one of the country's largest industrial conglomerates known for its textiles and machinery, acquired a 40 per cent stake in the corporation. This represented the biggest-ever restructuring in China's pharmaceutical industry.

Analysts said the massive acquisition reflected the two parties' ambitions to jointly foster a flagship business to better combat the growing competition now that China is in the World Trade Organization.

The corporation's current three shareholders - the China Worldbest Group, Shanghai Huayi (Group) Co and Shanghai Industrial Investment Group - have all promised to expand their capital in the corporation in proportion with their present stakes. This will involve a combined investment of more than 160 million yuan (US$19.3 million).

The Shanghai municipal government has designated the pharmaceutical industry as one of the city's six backbone industries for the decade to come.

(China Daily June 3, 2003)