ShanghaiMay 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — In 2025, China’s life sciences industry experienced rapid development, with the biomedical market size surpassing 3.5 trillion yuan by the end of the year. The 2026 Government Work Report included biomedicine as an “emerging pillar industry” for the first time, signaling that proactive national and local policies in recent years will continue or even intensify. This new wave of policy-driven growth not only expands the industry’s scale but also fosters stronger innovation and R&D capabilities, a more complete industrial chain, and a more mature commercial system, thereby enhancing the attractiveness and competitiveness of Chinese life sciences companies in the global market. JLL believes that under the goal of leapfrog development, Chinese life sciences companies are releasing unprecedented demand for innovation growth, international cooperation, and industrial cluster development. This also brings “new signals” to the corporate real estate market, including office and industrial parks: the recovery of innovative drug R&D is driving a rebound in space demand, multinational pharmaceutical companies are accelerating diversified layouts in China, and industrial carriers are continuously upgrading toward specialization and integration.
Chinese Pharmaceutical Companies “Growing Bigger and Stronger,” Activating Leasing Demand
With the continuous upgrading of the industry, the R&D capabilities of Chinese life sciences companies have significantly strengthened. Particularly in the innovative drug market, the number of innovative drugs under development in China reached 4,751 in 2025, accounting for 33.7% of the global total, making it the world’s largest. The total value of out-licensing transactions for Chinese innovative drugs reached approximately $138.8 billion, accounting for nearly 50% of the global share, both setting new records. Driven by this, the market size of China’s innovative drugs grew by 34.5% year-on-year to 740 billion yuan in 2025, and is expected to exceed 2 trillion yuan by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 24.1%.
This cycle of dividends driven by policies and innovation greatly tests the comprehensive competitiveness of companies: on one hand, it pushes the development model of innovative drugs from relying on financing to a comprehensive drive of “product commercialization + R&D out-licensing + financing”; on the other hand, it encourages companies to shift from generic drugs to innovative therapies and upgrade toward Biopharma, Big Pharma, and other directions to “grow bigger and stronger.”
As an important operational carrier, real estate flexibly reflects the development status of the industry. In Shanghai’s Grade A office buildings and high-quality industrial parks, leasing demand from life sciences companies has shown signs of recovery, with a significant increase in related inquiries.
Ting Ding, Director of JLL East China Research, stated: “Although the life sciences real estate market has experienced fluctuations in recent years due to capital cycles, the long-term trend of innovation and development among Chinese life sciences companies will continue to drive space demand growth, bringing positive expectations. With upgrading and development, companies will also place greater emphasis on optimizing asset allocation and improving space operational efficiency to empower R&D innovation and commercial expansion.”
Foreign Companies Diversify Spatial Layouts in China
The continuous transformation of China’s pharmaceutical innovation achievements has significantly enhanced its appeal to international companies. In 2024, the scale of M&A transactions in the domestic healthcare sector reached 75 billion yuan, an 82% increase year-on-year. With the start of the “15th Five-Year Plan” in 2026, the spatial layouts of multinational companies in China are becoming more diversified, with models such as leasing office buildings, acquiring industrial parks, and investing in base construction becoming increasingly common.
Taking Shanghai’s New Bund Business District as an example, over 70 domestic and foreign biomedical and medical device companies have settled there, including leading multinational companies such as Roche Diagnostics, Siemens Healthineers, and Novo Nordisk, which have established regional headquarters or operation centers in the area.
It is noteworthy that since 2026, large-scale transactions of Chinese innovative drugs have frequently occurred, with cooperation models evolving from single licensing to diverse forms. The NewCo[1] model, combining “equity + licensing” hybrid transactions, is gradually emerging. This model helps strengthen international cooperation on core pipelines and may release new real estate demand.
Industrial Cluster Attributes Lead Parks to Evolve into “Communities and Ecosystems”
Life sciences companies have strong industrial clustering attributes, always preferring locations with dense talent, complete industrial chains, and convenient supporting facilities. Currently, typical “industrial highlands” such as Shanghai Zhangjiang, Suzhou BioBay, Beijing Yizhuang, Chengdu Medical City, and Guangdong Bio-Island all have one-stop industrial cluster conditions for scientific research, clinical trials, manufacturing, and distribution. Spaces that provide efficient innovation environments will also demonstrate greater resilience and competitiveness in the real estate market.
Taking Shanghai Zhangjiang as an example, it has gathered over 22,000 companies and continues to evolve: on the hardware side, it builds “comprehensive industrial communities” integrating office buildings, customized laboratories, living facilities, retail, and hotels; on the software side, it provides full-chain services for funding, talent, technology, and policies, capable of incubating high-value-added scientific research companies and supporting the development of various outsourcing services, forming a complete “life sciences industry ecosystem.” This is one of the core reasons why life sciences companies maintain a “strong stickiness” to Zhangjiang.
Zeren Yu, Senior Director of JLL Life Sciences Real Estate, pointed out that the rapid development of the industry is forcing a shift from the traditional ‘space leasing’ mindset to a professional operation approach centered on ‘industry empowerment’ and based on ‘communities and ecosystems.’ The essence of life sciences real estate is an extension of the ‘space as a service’ industry logic. Landlords and operators need to consider transitioning from ‘space providers’ to ‘strategic enablers,’ helping companies focus on core R&D, accelerating technology transformation efficiency, and building core competitiveness.
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[1] The NewCo (Newly Created Company) model refers to a Chinese innovative drug company licensing overseas rights of a pipeline to an overseas investor, with both parties jointly establishing a new company. The investor typically holds over 50% equity, leading subsequent clinical development, regulatory filings, and exit strategies such as listing or M&A. |
About JLL
JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading global commercial real estate services and investment management company. The company had revenue of $26.1 billion in fiscal year 2025, operates in over 80 countries worldwide, and employs more than 113,000 people. As a Fortune 500 company with over 200 years of professional expertise, we continue to earn the trust of global clients, helping them efficiently acquire, develop, occupy, operate, and invest in diverse asset types such as office buildings, industrial logistics, hotels, rental apartments, retail properties, and data centers. Adhering to our corporate purpose of “Shaping the future of real estate for a better world,” we work “toward the light” with our clients, employees, and communities. Leveraging globally leading data insights and technological innovation capabilities, we provide clients from various industries with full-cycle, one-stop real estate services. Through our investment management arm, LaSalle Investment Management, we invest in private assets and publicly traded real estate securities for clients globally, helping them achieve long-term value growth. For more information, please visit joneslanglasalle.com.cn