SHANGHAI Mayor Yang Xiong met Kenneth C. Frazier, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Merck & Co Inc and chairman of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, last Thursday.

Yang said Shanghai gives priority to the development of the pharmaceutical industry, which has already become a key industrial sector. The world's leading drug producers have all invested in Shanghai and set up their regional headquarters, R&D centers and factories here.

He told Frazier that the Shanghai Free Trade Zone is pushing for more reforms and opening to facilitate trade and investment. The city is experimenting with new evaluation procedures for pharmaceutical companies with support from concerned central government departments. The pilot program is expected to boost the development of the pharmaceutical industry.