Taizhou's Jiaojiang district was designated as a national pharmaceutical export base by the Ministry of Commerce at a conference held in Dongguan, Guangdong province on Dec 4. [Photo/taizhou.com.cn]

Taizhou's Jiaojiang district was designated as a national pharmaceutical export base by the Ministry of Commerce at a conference held in Dongguan, Guangdong province on Dec 4.

Only four places in the entire country received the designation, Jiaojiang being the only in Zhejiang province.

Last year, the district was conferred the title of national home appliance export base.

As a national manufacturing hub for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) exports, Jiaojiang has been experiencing rapid growth in its pharmaceutical sector in recent years.

The district is currently home to more than 40 medicine exporting companies, which have a total estimated value of 3.7 billion yuan ($552.2 million) per year.

From January to October, the added value of 27 pharmaceutical companies above designated size in the district rose 5.2 percent year-on-year to 2.958 billion yuan, while their profits soared 112.9 percent over the period to 2.497 billion yuan.

Jiaojiang has also seen strong results in expanding its markets overseas.

Pharmaceutical companies from the district have set up 8 overseas marketing outlets in countries and regions including Germany, the United States and Singapore, with products being sold to 96 countries and regions.

The scale of the pharmaceutical sector in Taizhou is expected to surpass 100 billion yuan by 2021, according to local authorities.