Frost & Sullivan releases the '2025 China Pet Drug White Paper'

As pet roles evolve from mere guardians to important family members, the importance of pet healthcare and specialized medications has significantly increased. Whether in bustling urban pet hospitals or remote rural veterinary clinics, pet owners are willing to strive for their pets' health. With the rise in pet awareness and health consciousness, advancements in pet medical technology, and diversification of pet medications, pet drugs have become an indispensable part of maintaining pet health and safeguarding the happy lives of pets.

With the growing demand for pet health, domestic pet drugs are gradually taking the leading position in the market due to their continuously improving product quality, continuous innovation and research, and characteristics that better meet local market needs. These domestic drugs not only meet the basic needs of pet health care but also lead a new chapter in the field of pet healthcare with their efficient, safe, and convenient features. In addition, domestic pet drug companies are actively deploying overseas markets, first developing and producing drugs that must meet export country veterinary drug GMP specifications and certifications, and at the same time obtaining official registration approvals through the country's GLP drug bioequivalence or GCP drug clinical trials, and finally selling them through professional channels according to local veterinary drug GSP requirements. The internationalization of high-quality Chinese pet drugs represents the improvement of China's veterinary drug development level and also meets the needs of pet medical institutions and pet owners in more countries and regions for pet health.

The main reasons for the increase in China's pet drug market size in recent years are the continuous increase in the number of pets, the increasing attention pet owners pay to pet health, and the diversification of pet health management needs. From 2020 to 2024, China's pet drug market size increased from 9.39 billion yuan to 20.95 billion yuan, with an annual compound growth rate of 22.2% during this period.

In the future, continuous breakthroughs in innovative technology, rich and diverse product lines, comprehensive expansion of sales channels, and gradual improvement of regulations and policies in the pet drug industry will jointly provide strong guarantees for the development of the pet drug market size. It is expected that by 2029, China's pet drug market size will grow to 35.41 billion yuan, with an annual compound growth rate of 10.4% from 2025 to 2028.

Source: Frost & Sullivan analysis

● Scientific Research Facilitates, Technological Innovation Leads the Trend

Domestic pet drug research and development fields have continuously made breakthroughs, and advanced technical means and production processes have been widely applied in the development of domestic pet drugs, providing strong guarantees for treatment effects, safety, and stability. At the same time, modern pharmaceutical equipment and automated production lines have played a key role in process control, ensuring the consistency of drug components and the stability of quality. In addition, the combination of intelligent R & D platforms and big data analysis has further optimized the clinical data processing ability, providing scientific support for the continuous optimization of drugs. The application of scientific means and innovative processes has enabled domestic pet drugs to meet the needs of pet health management in a more efficient and safe image, injecting strong impetus into the sustainable development of the industry.

● Quality Upgrade, Professional Customization Becomes a Trend

With the continuous improvement of domestic pet drug research and development capabilities, domestic pet drugs are gradually pursuing excellence in quality and have gradually achieved a transformation from basic treatment to professional customization. In order to meet the needs of different types, ages, and health conditions of pets, domestic enterprises have increased their research and development efforts on personalized treatment plans and launched more professional drugs. These drugs have been optimized in many aspects such as formula design, dosage control, and administration methods to ensure that pets can obtain the best treatment effects.

● Conceptual Update, Domestic Drugs Become Popular

With the continuous development of the domestic pet medical market, pet owners and veterinarians are undergoing profound changes in their understanding of domestic pet drugs. In the past, pet owners and veterinarians were more inclined to choose imported drugs, but with the continuous improvement of domestic pet drug research and development and production technology, more and more pet owners are beginning to realize the significant advantages of domestic drugs in terms of quality, effect, and cost-effectiveness. This change in consumption concept provides broad market space for the rise of domestic pet drugs and promotes the rapid development of the industry.

● Standardized Production, Implementation of International Quality Management Systems

The domestic pet drug industry is accelerating its integration into international quality management systems, adopting and implementing global advanced pharmaceutical standards and quality control processes to ensure high-quality and consistent products. By strictly following internationally recognized GMP and ISO standards, domestic pet drug enterprises are aligning with international standards in manufacturing, testing, and distribution links, making the quality consistency and safety of domestic pet drugs reach international top levels, significantly enhancing global competitiveness and consumer trust.

● Optimized Services, Close Interaction with Offline Pet Diagnosis and Treatment Institutions

Domestic brands have established close cooperative relationships with offline diagnosis and treatment institutions in the field of pet healthcare, providing increasingly perfect academic exchanges, offline guidance, and after-sales services to help veterinarians master the latest medical technologies and treatment plans, improving diagnosis and treatment levels and mutual trust. This close interactive relationship enables brands to quickly adjust strategies, more accurately meet needs, and further promote the healthy development of the pet healthcare industry, providing more cost-effective choices for pet health management and enhancing the market competitiveness of domestic brands.

● Overseas Layout, Accelerated Internationalization Process of Domestic Brands

With the continuous expansion of the global pet market, domestic pet drug enterprises are accelerating their internationalization pace and actively expanding overseas markets. By establishing global distribution networks, participating in international exhibitions, and collaborating with overseas scientific research institutions, some enterprises have successfully opened the door to the international market and built a complete sales system in Europe, America, Southeast Asia and other places. In the highly competitive international pet drug market, domestic pet drug enterprises are continuously improving product quality and research and development capabilities through international certifications (such as US FDA certification, EU GMP certification, etc.), winning wide recognition in the international market. With innovative technology, excellent quality, and flexible international strategies, enterprises have attracted a large number of overseas consumers and medical institutions' attention, enhancing the global influence of brands and accumulating rich overseas market experience.

In the highly competitive pet drug market in China, many domestic participants are actively deploying and expanding their influence. Each brand focuses on multiple key areas such as offline store coverage rate, product price, product richness, and product innovation, continuously increasing investment and research and development efforts to strive to build strong market barriers and brand loyalty. Among many domestic pet drug players, the offline store coverage rate of pet drugs will be the key to market competition.

From the perspective of the offline store coverage rate of Chinese domestic pet drug brands in 2024, Hanwei Pet's pet drugs cover about 65% of offline diagnosis and treatment institutions across the country, ranking first among Chinese domestic pet drug offline store coverage rates*.

In addition, while deeply cultivating the domestic market, domestic pet drug enterprises are also actively deploying overseas markets, aiming to promote high-quality domestic pet drugs globally to meet the needs of pet medical institutions and pet owners in more countries and regions. Among them, Hanwei Pet, as a representative brand, has currently successfully launched products in 5 overseas countries, and other domestic pet drug brands are also actively exploring overseas markets.

*In this White Paper, pet drugs specifically refer to pet chemical drugs, which are drugs synthesized entirely by chemical methods and used to treat, prevent, or diagnose various diseases and health problems of pets.

*Mainland China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan regions)

With the rapid growth of the global pet industry, China's pet drug market is welcoming new development opportunities, especially against the backdrop of accelerating internationalization, where domestic brands demonstrate strong competitiveness. Domestic pet drug enterprises, with their continuously innovative R & D capabilities and a profound understanding of domestic and international market needs, are actively expanding overseas markets and gradually forming global distribution networks. By participating in international pet exhibitions, cooperating with overseas scientific research institutions, and providing precise localization customization, leading domestic pet drug brands have gained recognition in markets such as Europe, America, and Southeast Asia, gradually opening the door to the international market. On the basis of maintaining domestic market advantages, Chinese pet drug enterprises are continuously promoting innovative technologies and strengthening brand building, gradually breaking through the high threshold of international market access and winning the high favor of overseas consumers and medical institutions. Looking ahead, domestic pet drug brands are expected to occupy a more important position in the global pet drug field and have a more profound impact on the development of the industry.