They are buying the licenses to make and distribute the novelty drugs in different markets. The final products are likely not made in China. It is still better than these western big pharma companies licensing from someone else. Not to mention that it used to be the Chinese drug makers licensing from the west. And China has sizeable market shares of active pharmaceutical ingredients and raw pharmaceutical materials.
The established big pharmas have taken decades to build and maintain the channels and networks for distributing drugs worldwide. Chinese companies have a long way to be there.
