Pharma stocks offer new hope

Investors' search for shelter from the financial tsunami that has battered the global capital markets is zeroing in on the shares of pharmaceutical companies, which are seen to be least affected by the economic downturn.

"The pharmaceutical sector is largely recession-proof and has done pretty well in 2008," said Liu Yaming, an analyst with Pacific Securities.

The nation's drug makers have maintained brisk growth in recent years as the population grows older and more able to pay for expensive healthcare products and services.