Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca faces potential fines in China over import taxes Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has issued a warning that it could be slapped with a fine in China over potential unpaid import taxes, as it unveiled robust sales of cancer drugs which boosted revenues.
The company disclosed that Shenzhen authorities have claimed the unpaid taxes total £0.7m and that it could face a penalty "of between one and five times the amount of unpaid importation taxes" if found culpable.
Late last year, AstraZeneca appointed a new president for its China operations following the arrest of former executive Leon Wang along with other staff members by Chinese authorities.
He added: "This year marks the beginning of an unprecedented, catalyst-rich period for our company, an important step on our Ambition 2030 journey to deliver $80bn (£64.1bn) total revenue by the end of the decade.
In 2025 alone, we anticipate the first phase III data for seven new medicines, along with several important new indication opportunities for our existing medicines.".
