China is a 'Big Focus' for Roche

The Swiss healthcare company Roche sees growing opportunities in China and has plans to increase its presence in the Asian market, the chief executive officer told CNBC Thursday. 

Speaking after the release of the company's 2017 results, Severin Schwan, chief executive of Roche, told CNBC that China is a "big focus" for the company, mainly on the pharmaceutical side. 

"China is getting more and more important for us. In diagnostics (China) is already the second most important market for us, it's still a bit smaller on the pharmaceutical side, but there is no doubt the market is strongly growing," Schwan said.

"We are investing in China and we want to make sure that we bring our solutions, diagnostic tests and medicines increasingly to patients in China," he added.