The coastal city of Yantai in East China's Shandong province witnessed the signing of 14 cooperation agreements for new pharmaceutical projects during the International Conference on Pharmaceutical Innovation and Development 2017, which the city hosted on Sept 16-17.
The deals included projects to build several major pharmaceutical facilities in Yantai, including an international bioscience innovation demonstration zone, which the Yantai government will establish in partnership with the Shandong Food and Drug Administration and China Pharmaceutical Industry Research and Development Association.
A research institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine signs a contract with Huasi Biology, a Shandong-based biomedicine company, to jointly build a research center to study the transformation of stem cells on Sept 12 during the International Conference on Pharmaceutical Innovation and Development 2017 in Yantai, Shandong province. [Photo/WeChat account: yantaigaoxin] |
The city has set a goal of building a medical and health care industry worth more than 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) by the end of 2020. Last year, the industry's prime operating revenues reached 65.5 billion yuan.
The conference, under the theme of "Innovation, Cooperation, Investment and Development", gathered about 400 experts and influencers in the pharmaceutical industry from home and abroad. They discussed the latest development trends and innovations in the sector.
Sun Xianze, deputy head of the China Food and Drug Administration, gave the keynote speech at the conference, in which he said that China has become the world's second largest pharmaceutical market after years of development, and it is moving from being a big pharmaceutical manufacturer to a powerhouse of pharmaceutical innovation.
Sun Xianze, deputy head of the China Food and Drug Administration, delivers a speech at the International Conference on Pharmaceutical Innovation and Development 2017, held in Yantai, Shandong province from Sept 16 to 17. [Photo/news.shm.com.cn] |
Song Ruilin, executive president of the China Pharmaceutical Industry Research and Development Association, also delivered a speech at the conference. He stressed that the research and development of new medicines holds the key to dealing with the difficulty and high cost of getting medical treatment.