Sanofi SA will invest around 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to build a new insulin production base in Beijing, its biggest single investment in China to date and part of a broader push to boost manufacturing capacity in Asia.

The French drugmaker said that the investment of about 1 billion euros will enhance the production and manufacturing of insulin, focusing on serving local diabetic patients.

Sanofi plans to invest around 1 billion euros ($1.05 billion) to build a new insulin production base in Beijing, which will mark the French drugmaker's largest single investment in China, the company said on Monday.

Chinese authorities rolled out the red carpet for French pharmaceutical and healthcare giant Sanofi, which plans to invest around 1 billion euros (US$1.05 billion) to build a new insulin plant in Beijing - the company's single biggest capital outlay in the world's second-largest economy.

French pharma giant Sanofi will invest some 1 billion euros ($1.05 billion) to establish a new insulin production base in Beijing, according to the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (BDA).

Sanofi is one of the world's top producers of insulin, and the China market for treatment of the illness is huge: Some 140 million people in the mainland, nearly 12% of its population, had the illness as of 2021,