AstraZeneca agreed a $1.2 billion upfront licensing deal with China’s CSPC and outlined a sweeping China strategy, doubling down on obesity and metabolic medicines. The CSPC pact gives AZ rights to eight long-acting peptide assets, including a once-monthly GLP‑1/GIP candidate, while CSPC retains select Greater China rights. Separately, AZ committed more than $15 billion to expand R&D and manufacturing in China through 2030. The moves combine asset acquisition, platform access and local investment: CSPC will advance early-stage candidates and long‑acting technologies into first‑in‑human studies, and AstraZeneca will scale late‑stage development and global commercialization. AZ named platform synergies and CSPC’s AI‑enabled peptide capabilities as drivers for differentiation in a crowded obesity field. For biotech and pharma players, the package signals intensified competition in next‑generation incretin and long‑acting modalities and underscores China’s accelerating role as both partner and market for global drug launches. The transactions also highlight how multinational firms are pairing capital commitments with regional licensing to de‑risk portfolios and secure manufacturing capacity.