Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis said on Tuesday that it had acquired 85 percent of Chinese vaccines maker Zhejiang Tianyuan Bio-Pharmaceutical company.

"/> Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis said on Tuesday that it had acquired 85 percent of Chinese vaccines maker Zhejiang Tianyuan Bio-Pharmaceutical company.

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Novartis buys Chinese vaccine maker

Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis said on Tuesday that it had acquired 85 percent of Chinese vaccines maker Zhejiang Tianyuan Bio-Pharmaceutical company.

Published: 22 March 2011 13:45 CET

Andrin Oswald, head of Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, said in a statement that the agreement would allow the company to combine its vaccines research and development strategy and pipeline with Tianyuan’s knowledge of the fast growing Chinese market.

The pharmaceutical giant rates China as the world’s third largest vaccines market, with annual industry sales of more than $1.0 billion and the prospect of sustained double-digit growth.

Novartis had announced the $125 million acquisition in November 2009 with a $1.0 billion investment plan for research and development in China, to latch on to growing demand and provision of state health care.

China derides Copenhagen democracy meet as 'political farce'

Demonstrators gathered outside the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday. Photo: Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix

The Copenhagen Democracy Summit was held Monday and Tuesday in the Danish capital and organised by the Alliance of Democracies, an organisation targeted by Beijing sanctions in March and founded by former NATO boss Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

In addition to Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and Hong Kong democracy activist Nathan Law, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod also participated in the forum by video link, which Beijing said violated “the one-China principle.”

“This summit is a political farce,” the Chinese embassy in Denmark wrote in a statement published on Tuesday. “Inviting those who advocate Taiwan and Hong Kong ‘independence’ to the meeting violates the one-China principle and interferes in China’s internal affairs,” it said.

“Some hypocritical western politicians are good at meddling in other countries’ internal affairs and creating divisions and confrontation in the name of ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’. They are bound to fail,” it added.

At the conference on Monday, Kofod said it was “deplorable” that Beijing had imposed sanctions on 10 European individuals and organisations in response to EU sanctions on Xinjiang officials over their actions against the Uyghur Muslim minority.

Like most countries, Denmark applies the one-China principle — under which Beijing bars other countries from having simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taipei — though it does maintain relations with Taiwan.

Cut off politically from the rest of China since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the territory is self-governing but is not recognised by
the United Nations.

Beijing considers Taiwan a rebel province that will one day return under its control, by force if necessary.

China’s sabre-rattling has increased considerably over the past year, with fighter jets and nuclear-capable bombers breaching Taiwan’s air defence zone on a near-daily basis.

“Our government is fully aware of the threats to regional security, and is actively enhancing our national defence capabilities to protect our
democracy,” Tsai told the conference in a video address on Monday. US President Joe Biden is expected to present his China strategy soon, as
calls mount for him to publicly commit to defending Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese attack.

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