The three major foreign investment giants team up to buy in

Based on the latest disclosed first-quarter reports of listed companies, WoHua Medicine saw three foreign-invested giants—Goldman Sachs, Barclays Bank, and JPMorgan Chase—move in and pile on buying in the first quarter of this year. Recent disclosures of 2025 annual reports from listed companies also show that foreign capital is currently arranging investments in Chinese pharmaceutical stocks in a dense, concentrated way. Industry institutions believe that, driven by the industry’s clear advantages in R&D costs and performance recovery after centralized procurement has cleared, China’s pharmaceutical sector is attracting more and more foreign investment into sub-segments such as innovative drug R&D, CXO, and overseas expansion, and the long-term investment value is gradually becoming more evident.

On April 8, WoHua Medicine released its 2026 first-quarter report. The report shows that in this year’s first quarter, Goldman Sachs, Barclays Bank, and JPMorgan Chase all newly entered as among the top ten circulating shareholders of the company. Specifically, as of the end of the first quarter of this year, Goldman Sachs held 3,673.5 thousand shares, ranking as the second-largest circulating shareholder; Barclays Bank and JPMorgan Chase held 1,720 thousand shares and 1,410 thousand shares respectively, ranking as the eighth-largest and tenth-largest circulating shareholders.

Data shows that WoHua Medicine’s main businesses include R&D, production, and sales of pure natural plant-based traditional Chinese patent medicines for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular conditions. In the first quarter, the company’s net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 36.6487 million, up 60.32% year over year; net profit attributable to shareholders excluding non-recurring gains and losses was RMB 35.7437 million, up 62.05% year over year.

From the 2025 annual reports of listed companies recently disclosed in a concentrated manner, it can be seen that in the fourth quarter of last year, many A-share pharmaceutical listed companies had already seen purchases by foreign institutional investors.

Taking Huashen Technology as an example: in the fourth quarter of last year, JPMorgan Chase newly entered the list of the company’s top ten circulating shareholders. As of the end of the fourth quarter of last year, JPMorgan Chase held 3.25 million shares, ranking as the ninth-largest circulating shareholder. Data shows that Huashen Technology is a high-tech listed enterprise centered on modern Chinese medicine, integrating businesses including biopharmaceuticals and health beverages.

In addition, in the fourth quarter of last year, Barclays Bank newly entered the list of top ten circulating shareholders of Xintian Di, holding 357.8 thousand shares; JPMorgan Chase newly entered the list of top ten circulating shareholders of Haishen Pharmaceutical, holding 261.4 thousand shares; and Goldman Sachs newly entered the list of top ten circulating shareholders of Weigao Blood Purification, holding 296 thousand shares.

Since the beginning of this year, multiple healthcare-related ETFs have continued to receive net capital inflows. According to Choice data, as of April 7, the year-to-date share increase of Huabao Healthcare ETF was 9.282 billion units; based on an average transaction price of 0.35 yuan, the total net capital inflow amounted to RMB 3.273 billion. The Yongying Medical Devices ETF’s share increase was 4.029 billion units, bringing in RMB 2.078 billion of net inflows. In addition, both E Fund Medical ETF and Tianhong Bio-Pharmaceutical ETF saw their share increases exceed 1 billion units.

At this point in time, many foreign institutions believe that China’s pharmaceutical sector offers significant investment opportunities.

A foreign private equity firm executive in Shanghai told a reporter from the Shanghai Securities News that he is optimistic about investment opportunities in China’s pharmaceutical sector. He believes that China’s pharmaceutical industry can be benchmarked against China’s manufacturing industry from 10 to 20 years ago, and that the cost advantage is very clear. Globally, pharmaceutical R&D costs are generally high, but China, leveraging its significant R&D cost advantage, is attracting an increasing number of multinational pharmaceutical companies to shift R&D activities to China. This trend is pushing the global pharmaceutical R&D industrial chain to concentrate in China.

“Whether in the A-share market or the Hong Kong stock market, the innovative drug R&D and CXO (pharmaceutical R&D outsourcing) fields all have clear and significant long-term investment value,” the person said.

Manulife Fund Management, a foreign public fund, is also optimistic about the market performance of China’s pharmaceutical sector. It said that, from a fundamental perspective, companies in traditional in-hospital drugs and medical device consumables are expected to gradually move out of their earnings trough, especially in certain sub-segments that have already completed centralized procurement clearance. The stock of businesses of some leading companies has become relatively stable, and it is expected that new products will accelerate in volume, making it possible to achieve sustained growth.

“Meanwhile, we will also focus on companies whose overseas businesses are developing rapidly. We look forward to these enterprises fully leveraging their own advantages, entering broader markets by expanding overseas business, creating a second growth curve, and gradually growing into companies with global competitiveness,” Manulife Fund Management said.

Author: Wang Peng