The Chinese pharmaceutical market has emerged as a major driver of revenue growth for global drug firms, according to a new report at the PharmAsia-Shanghai Summit 2013 on Monday.

The analysis from McKinsey & Co, in cooperation with Elsevier Business Intelligence and BayHelix Group, showed China's pharmaceutical market has grown at a rapid compound annual growth rate of 21 percent over the past five years, reaching 600 billion yuan ($98.4 billion) in retail sales in 2012.

In a forecast developed jointly by McKinsey and the China Pharmaceutical Association, China's pharmaceutical market is projected to grow at about 17 percent annually through 2020, reaching 1.9 trillion yuan in retail sales. By then, China likely will be the second-largest pharmaceutical market in the world, the forecast said.