Marc Horn, executive vice president of German pharmaceutical giant Merck Group and president of Merck China, has expressed optimism about China's long-term investment prospects, highlighting advances in innovation, consumption trends, and market accessibility. Horn is attending the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) 2025 Annual Conference in Boao, Qionghai City, in China's southern island province of Hainan. In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Thursday on the sidelines of the event, Horn shared insights on Merck's development strategy in China and other markets. The executive weighed in on China's ambitious 5-percent GDP growth target for this year, which he believes will unleash abundant opportunities for many companies, including Merck. The "two sessions" refer to the annual meetings of China's top legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC), and the country's top political advisory body, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which took place in Beijing earlier this month. Horn views China's innovation ecosystem as a key factor in future growth, which is driven by strong government support, fast-growing startups, academic collaboration, and customer focus. He emphasized that Merck is particularly excited about opportunities in areas like sustainability, precision medicine, new materials, and elderly care. Founded in 2001, the BFA is a non-governmental and non-profit international organization committed to promoting regional economic integration and bringing Asian countries closer to their development goals. Running from March 25 to 28, this year's BFA Annual Conference is themed "Asia in the Changing World: Towards a Shared Future." Shotlist: Boao Town, Qionghai City, Hainan Province, south China - Recent: 1. Various of venue, sign of Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), flags, fountain; Boao Town, Qionghai City, Hainan Province, south China - March 27, 2025 ; 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Marc Horn, executive vice president of Merck Group, president of Merck China (partially overlaid with shot 3): "As a truly global company, as Merck, we are really following a diversification approach. So, we really have regionalized our supply chain to really be following footprints locally for patients and customers. So, we are really leveraging at the moment the competitive advantages we see in North America, Europe, and China, and Asia Pacific individually. So, we truly believe, you need to be agile. As a global player, we do think we can play also a role in the cooperation and dialog so that we can all work together."; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: Shanghai, China - July 5, 2023 3. Various of interior of Merck China, collaboration center, info board showing time line of Merck's activities in China; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: Shanghai, China - September 2022 4. Aerial shots of building of Merck Lab Collaboration Center; 5. Various of machines; Boao Town, Qionghai City, Hainan Province, south China - March 27, 2025 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Marc Horn, executive vice president of Merck Group, president of Merck China (partially overlaid with shots 7-10): "I think the 'two sessions' has clearly shown that there is a strong confidence in the future growth, with reiteration of 5-percent growth, focusing again on innovation, in particular in the space of digitalization, green energy, life science and health care. But also really focusing on consumption and the well-being of the society. I think all those points in combination with the opening up, so further deepening market access, providing equitable competition. I think you will see that there is a long-term investment growth in China."; [SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: China - 2025 7. Various of people trying out walking aid; FILE: Shanghai, China - September 2022 8. Medical researcher marking tubes; 9. Various of medical researchers doing experiments, operating machine; 10. Various of medical researcher observing sample with microscope; [SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 11. Various of medical researchers doing tests, opening machine; Boao Town, Qionghai City, Hainan Province, south China - March 27, 2025 12. SOUNDBITE (English) Marc Horn, executive vice president of Merck Group, president of Merck China (starting with shot 11/partially overlaid with shots 13-14/ending with shot 15): "The innovation system here is really unique, when you're looking at very strong government policy support. A lot of new companies emerging, which are scaling very fast, in combination with academia and a very strong customer focus. So, in obvious areas where we just talked about like sustainability, precision medicine, really looking at new materials, thinking about elderly care. So, these are all areas which will become more greener, more digital, more healthier. We do believe as Merck, we can really contribute and then see a long-term perspective here."; [SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: Shanghai, China - September 2022 13. Various of medical researchers in lab, machines operating; FILE: Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, south China - March 22, 2025 14. Various of animation showing cell, organ, human body; [SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 15. Various of medical researchers working, machine operating, medical researchers doing tests. [Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]