The inaugural ACS Industry Symposium “Recent Advances in Drug Development” was held at Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories in Hyderabad, India between November 11 and November 12, 2016. Nearly two hundred scientists and entrepreneurs from U.S.A., U.K., Italy, China and India participated in the two-day event. Invited by American Chemical Society, Professor Ming-Wei Wang (Dean, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University and Director, the National Center for Drug Screening/Chinese National Compound Library) delivered a featured lecture, in the afternoon of November 11, entitled “Highlights in Chinese Drug Discovery Efforts: Optimizing Drug Leads for Efficiency”. This lecture systemically described the endeavors and achievements in China’s drug discovery arena since the beginning of 1990’s, which received enthusiastic responses from the audience.