Hong Kong legislature report details medical innovation hub plans
Hong Kong's Legislative Council Secretariat published a report on 26 October outlining measures to reform drug and medical device regulation and promote Chinese medicine, aiming to establish the city as an international medical innovation hub.
The Legislative Council Secretariat released its latest report on 26 October, titled “Building an International Medical Innovation Hub: Pharmaceutical and Device Reform, Chinese Medicine Heritage”. The report outlines Hong Kong’s measures to reform its drug and medical device regulatory system and advance Chinese medicine, summarising related legislative discussions and lawmakers’ proposals.
China’s 15th Five-Year Plan calls for advancing biomedical innovation, optimising new-drug approval, and supporting Chinese medicine culture. Hong Kong’s first five-year plan aims to build a globally influential medical innovation hub, deepen pharmaceutical and device regulatory reform to achieve “good drugs for Hong Kong, good devices for Hong Kong”, and promote Chinese medicine development.
Under the “one country, two systems” framework, Hong Kong connects international capital with mainland innovation, attracting top enterprises and building a clinical research talent pool. The city is the Asia-Pacific’s largest and the world’s second-largest biotech fundraising platform. As of April, the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises had brought in over 120 key enterprises, about one-third from life sciences. Half of the world’s top 10 pharmaceutical companies have operations in Hong Kong, which also hosts two globally top-30 medical schools and is planning a third.
The report states the government plans to submit a bill to the Legislative Council by the end of 2026 to establish a drug and medical device regulatory centre. It aims to move the new-drug registration system towards “first-tier approval”, ending reliance on overseas licences and accelerating the introduction and clinical use of new drugs. The Hong Kong-Shenzhen border’s Lok Ma Chau area will host the Greater Bay Area International Clinical Trial Facility as a core site for medical innovation. Lawmakers urged the government to fully implement the new-drug approval mechanism and automatically include approved drugs in the Hospital Authority’s drug formulary.
The report also notes the government will continue implementing the Chinese Medicine Development Blueprint, aiming to make Hong Kong a global gateway for Chinese medicine. The Legislative Council’s Subcommittee on Chinese Medicine Development is reviewing the sector and making recommendations. Lawmakers support promoting a “Hong Kong model” of Chinese medicine services, increasing subsidised places at the Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Hospital, and expanding the Hong Kong Chinese Materia Medica Standards internationally.
Lawmakers also called for setting targets for recruiting non-locally trained doctors to achieve the five-year plan’s ratio of 2.43 doctors per 1,000 people, and establishing nurse-to-patient ratios. They proposed a dedicated research fund for early-stage life-sciences R&D at the new medical school, and improving talent support to consolidate Hong Kong’s position as an international medical innovation hub.
