• Surge drivers: Advances in deep learning and large language models, mounting pressure from aging populations and rising costs, plus heavy investment and government backing are converging to make AI a practical, system-shaping force in healthcare.

• Market size: The global AI healthcare market could approach $190 billion by 2030, with China’s medical large-model segment alone surpassing RMB 100 billion, touching the full value chain from drug discovery to post-care.

• Evolution & applications: AI has moved from rigid expert systems to narrow deep-learning tools to today’s multimodal models that reason across imaging, records, and genomics. It now spans clinical decision support, drug R&D, public health, and hospital operations.

• Key risks: Data privacy, biased outcomes from unrepresentative training data, “black box” opacity, and unclear accountability when AI is involved in clinical decisions.

• Governance as the real bottleneck: Technology is advancing faster than regulation. Without clear rules on responsibility, safety, and transparency, even the most advanced AI cannot win trust or achieve sustainable adoption.

• Regional governance models: The US relies on adaptive, market-driven frameworks (e.g., FDA) but faces fragmentation; the EU enforces strict, rights-based rules via the AI Act, prioritizing safety; China takes a state-led, rapid-scaling approach with evolving regulatory oversight.

• Core message: For AI to responsibly transform healthcare, governance must catch up with innovation—ensuring ethics, accountability, and trust are built into the system from the start.

• For multinational pharma in China: A strategic trade-off emerges between US market access and global efficiency. High tariffs penalize offshore production, pushing firms from “China for Global” to “China for China” models. Expect more US-based manufacturing, fragmented supply chains, and pricing pressures (e.g., MFN agreements).
• For Chinese pharma companies: Diversify exports beyond the US (Europe, SE Asia, Middle East). Move up the value chain into novel drugs and integrated services. Boost compliance, traceability, and governance to meet rising global scrutiny. Elevate government affairs as a core capability.
• Domestic reshaping of China’s pharma industry: External pressure will accelerate innovation, strengthen domestic demand, and push industrial upgrading toward high-end manufacturing and self-reliance.
• Broader US-China dynamics: Healthcare becomes a new front in strategic competition. Supply chains are now national security assets; trade and regulation are tools to reshape global industrial structures.
• Global business takeaway: Efficiency is no longer king. Security, resilience, and policy alignment now drive supply chains and market access. Government affairs is a strategic necessity in politically shaped markets.

1. What is Section 232? A U.S. trade law allowing the President to restrict imports deemed a threat to "national security." It is now being applied to pharmaceuticals, reframing medicine as a strategic asset rather than just a commercial good.
2. Why Now? The shift is driven by three converging factors: supply chain vulnerability exposed by recent crises, intensifying geopolitical competition extending into healthcare, and a domestic desire to use trade leverage to lower U.S. drug prices.
3. How It Works: The policy is a three-step system: High Tariffs (up to 100%) penalize offshore production, Onshoring Incentives offer temporary relief for relocating manufacturing to the U.S., and MFN Pricing Agreements grant zero-tariff access in exchange for lower U.S. prices.
4. Impact on U.S. Industry: Long-term, this forces a re-localization of manufacturing and shifts the industry from a market-driven model to a policy-dependent ecosystem where government affairs become a core business function.
5. Immediate Impact on Chinese Firms: Short-term effects are buffered by exemptions for generics and APIs. However, long-term pressure is building on CDMOs and high-end manufacturing as global supply chains begin to re-segment and decouple.

A quick summary of this episode.

• US-China relations: Managed competition with selective decoupling, not full decoupling. Upcoming Trump visit expected to be transactional, not a dramatic reset.
• Bilateral investment: Investment is increasingly political. Success depends on aligning with local US priorities (job creation, manufacturing, clean energy, healthcare). Most viable locations: Midwest and South at subnational level.
• Government relations (GA): No universal model. US: rules-based, transparent, transactional. China: long-term, relationship-driven, GA 3.0 via think tanks and industry associations. EU: multi-level governance.
• Integrating GA into business: Use “value-at-stake” analysis. Shift from “Hill-centric” lobbying to executive branch and agency-level influence (OMB, GSA, FAR reforms).
• Effective advocacy: Shape the narrative, build coalitions, use third-party validators (academics, think tanks), understand political culture and timing.
• Organizational structure: 501(c)(3), (c)(4), (c)(6) have different lobbying capacities and compliance rules (LDA, FARA). Hybrid structures common.
• AI in politics: AI augments but cannot replace human judgment. Useful for data analysis, sentiment tracking, but lacks cultural and emotional nuance.

In this MedAsian podcast episode, Director of Government Affairs Felix Li shares insights from a two-week trip to Washington, D.C., outlining the evolving US-China landscape and what it means for multinational businesses.

• Selective Decoupling: US-China relations are defined by "managed competition" under deep interdependence—neither full decoupling nor full normalization, but a strategic balance of selective cooperation and pressure.
• Investment Alignment: Cross-border investment is now highly politicized. Success requires aligning with policy priorities (e.g., advanced manufacturing, clean energy) rather than just market logic.
• Subnational Focus: Viable Chinese investment in the US is shifting to subnational levels (Midwest, South) where local priorities like job creation and economic development outweigh national political rhetoric.
• Local Impact Matters: Winning local support depends on demonstrating tangible community benefits—job creation, tax revenue, and infrastructure development—communicated as long-term, mutual partnerships.

The quick summary of this episode of Podcast with MedAsian.

• New 5-Year Plan & Shift to Quality: 2026 marks the start of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, with a moderate 4.5–5% GDP target that prioritizes quality over speed. The focus is on structural upgrading and higher standards, not short-term stimulus.
• Prioritized Sectors: Policy is heavily concentrated on industries that enhance long-term resilience, including advanced manufacturing (AI, 6G, NEV), healthcare innovation, and green technology, with a strong emphasis on technological self-reliance.
• Higher Expectations for Business: The environment is becoming more demanding. Companies face growing expectations around localization, supply chain integration, and alignment with national policy goals to succeed.
• Proactive Government Affairs is Key: Businesses must move beyond monitoring to early-stage policy shaping. Engaging with ministries and regulators before rules are finalized allows companies to contribute expertise and influence practical implementation.
• Leverage Regional Pilots: Significant policy breakthroughs can happen at the regional level. Companies should utilize pilot zones (e.g., Boao for healthcare) to test innovations and demonstrate value, which can later inform national policy.

The Core Conflict: In APAC, culture remains the superpower. AI can process data, but it cannot read a room, navigate hierarchy, or sense unspoken political tension.

Key Takeaway:

"AI informs speed. Human judgment protects authority and sensibility."

Why It Matters:

Global playbooks fail when they ignore local context

In healthcare, "how/why" matters as much as "what"—AI misses ethical nuance

The winning formula: Human instinct as compass, AI as engine

Future Communicators: Must evolve from storytellers to trusted advisors—frontline strategists who translate cultural shifts into actionable leadership insights.

Bottom line: In APAC, contextual intelligence = competitive advantage. 🤝

In our last podcast, we touched on topics around:

1. policy breakthroughs and current regulatory barriers in pilot zones across China,

2. applying real-world data to streamline the review of imported medical products,

3. the lingering challenges for patients to access innovative healthcare products that have already launched overseas

4. some suggestions for future policy breakthroughs.

In this podcast, we cover why imported innovative medical devices account for only 15% of green channel approvals in China—and what needs to change.

We also break down:
✅ Why 60% of top hospitals delay adoption by 6–12 months
✅ How NRDL timelines shrank from 5 years to 1, yet access remains limited
✅ The policy fixes needed—from RWE mandates to national innovation definitions

Tune in for the full discussion.