At present, China has become the world's largest producer and exporter of API. There are more than 2,000 KINDS of API produced globally, while there are as many as 1,500 kinds of API produced in China, which can be described as a complete variety. Currently, there are six Chinese companies among the world's largest API suppliers, including Zhejiang Xinhecheng, Zhejiang Pharmaceutical, North China Pharmaceutical, Northeast Pharmaceutical, Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical and Zhejiang Haizheng Pharmaceutical. It can be seen that, except for the two established suppliers of North China Pharmaceutical and Northeast China Pharmaceutical, the other four suppliers are all concentrated in Zhejiang Province, with obvious industrial concentration. Among them, the output of some API (such as vitamin C, penicillin, antipyretic and analgesic drugs) ranks first in the world.

According to the "2019-2025 China Chemical API Industry Market Dynamics and Investment Strategy Consulting Report" released by Zhiyuan Consulting, the domestic chemical API industry has witnessed rapid growth in recent years. In 2018, the sales revenue of the domestic chemical API industry reached 384.33 billion yuan, with a total asset of 575 billion yuan, a total output value of 414.42 billion yuan and a profit of about 40.77 billion yuan

At present, China has more than 2,400 enterprises with the qualification of pharmaceutical API production. According to the regional distribution of enterprises, jiangsu and Zhejiang have the largest distribution of pharmaceutical API enterprises, with over 300 enterprises. Shandong, Sichuan and Hubei provinces followed. At present, the national Chemical API base of Zhejiang province has been established in Linhai, Zhejiang province, which is the earliest and largest gathering area of chemical API and pharmaceutical intermediates industry in China. In addition, with the increasing pressure of environmental protection, nearly 100 Beijing pharmaceutical enterprises "cluster" in Bohai Bay, and the API base in north China has taken shape.