Takeda CEO Christophe Weber aspires to make China its second most important market in the long run, accepting it as a major task in the future.

 “There’s no reason in the long term China shouldn’t be our second-biggest business in the world,” Weber spoke in an interview cited by Bloomberg, believing that China levels with the U.S. and Europe in research, new drug approvals and reimbursement.

Takeda’s revenue from China has staggered in the recent years. Therefore, it might take a long time for it to boost its Chinese sales to equal its results in the U.S. and Japan, or even the U.K.

Takeda’s China management team has seen some major changes during the same time. Two Greater China executives resigned in 2017 alone and the China medical affairs lead walked out recently.  Under the existing Greater China chief Sean Shan, Takeda China was rebuilt into two divisions, one looks after its diabetes, cardiovascular and digestive drugs, the other is a specialty pharma division focusing on its oncology portfolio.

Regardless of the current decline, Weber commented that the company is “very optimistic about rebounding in China” from 2018 onwards due to factors like new drug releases.

It plans to launch seven new products in the subsequent five years in China. Weber said, “We are very pleased that we made a few years ago a dedicated investment to develop products in China for the Chinese market, and we are starting to reap the reward of that by launching new products in the future.”

It launched multiple myeloma drug Ninlaro, in China in May, and is trying to get approvals for its anti-inflammatory medicine Entyvio and gastric hyperacidity drug Takecab soon.