Following recent tax-relief measures, China’s health industry insiders <a href="http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2018-04/20/content_5284189.htm" target="_blank">estimate</a> that the price of imported cancer drugs will fall by at least 20 percent.The State Council <a href="http://www.gov.cn/guowuyuan/gwycwhy/20180412c06/index.htm" target="_blank">announced last week</a> that from May 1, China will no longer impose import tariffs on cancer medication from abroad. It also proposed that, in the meantime, the <a href="https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2075260" target="_blank">value-added tax</a> on such drugs — currently 17 percent — be greatly reduced.The combined measures are a boon to the country’s millions of cancer patients. <a href="http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2018-04/20/content_5284189.htm" target="_blank">According to</a> People’s Daily, China’s market for anticancer drugs is valued at 100 billion yuan ($16 billion), with imports accounting for roughly half of this figure.

Price of Imported Cancer Drugs to Fall by 20 Percent

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