A local pharmaceutical company, AFT Pharmaceuticals, has begun selling products into the Chinese market.
The company will sell over-the-counter (OTC) drugs on the e-commerce platform Tmall Global. It is the first New Zealand company to be approved under China’s cross-border e-commerce pilot scheme.
AFT is currently selling vitamin supplements, digestive products, eye drops and hay fever medicines on the e-commerce platform. The company’s flagship Maxigesic pain relief medication, and five additional medicinal products, will be rolled out in the second phase of the launch.
AFT founder and managing director Hartley Atkinson said that the online store offers “significant growth” opportunities for the company.
“The Chinese market for OTC medicines is the world’s second-largest behind the US and is growing rapidly.
“In 2020 it was worth US$16.3 billion, and it is now expected to reach US$22.7b by 2023, as the Chinese population ages and becomes more focussed on healthcare.”
AFT Pharmaceuticals was founded in New Zealand in 1998 and has expanded into Australia and South East Asia.
