Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news

Shanghai Pharmaceutical Group Co Ltd will invest 100 million yuan (US$12 million) to launch a joint venture in Chongqing municipality with a local drug firm there, Mokom Pharmaceutical Group, today's Youth Daily reported.
In the new company, Shanghai Pharmaceutical Mokom, which will register a  capital of 166 million yuan, SPGC will hold a 60-percent stake while the Chongqing partner will invest by the means of its facilities.
The two parties signed a framework agreement for the deal at the end of last year and are waiting for the SPGC shareholders meeting for the final nod, according to a Mokom official quoted in the Youth Daily report.
SPGC declined to confirm the report.
Industry analysts regard the new joint venture a step forward SPGC takes to extend its sales networks to the hinder land.
Established in 1998, Mokom is a leading private pharmaceutical firm in Chongqing, a key city in the Southwest.  From 2002, it entered the drug-retailing sector and has developed to be Chongqing's third-largest drug chain retailer, with a wide sales network in the rural markets surrounding Chongqing.