Life science forum bolsters Sino-European biotech cooperation

The third Sino-European Life Science Forum was held in Zhanjiang on Nov 22, attracting 13 European medical experts to the Guangdong coastal city for academic exchanges on the latest achievements in Chinese and European life science.

Founded in 2015 by the Federation of Chinese Professional Association in Europe and the Association for Science and Technology, the forum is an attempt to ramp up medical cooperation between China and Europe.

At the forum, experts hailing from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden and Belgium spoke about their progress in cellular therapy, neural system, rehabilitation, cosmetology, wearable devices and diagnostic reagents.

In the afternoon, experts, medical institutions and enterprises, were given the opportunity to discuss projects they were interested in, with some parties reaching preliminary intent for cooperation in medicine, rehabilitation and medical equipment.

Zhanjiang is a city of science and education, with nine provincial key laboratories, some 600,000 talents and the second largest number of colleges and universities in Guangdong province. The biopharmaceutical industry is one of the emerging industries prioritized in the city.

The city's vice mayor, Huang Yongwu, said that the forum is of great importance for Zhanjiang to expedite the transformation and upgrading of its local life science industry and to make headways in healthcare, medical rehabilitation and biopharmaceuticals.

He Zhen, vice president of the Guangdong Provincial Association for Science and Technology, extended his hopes that Zhanjiang will make the most of the platform and establish itself as a bellwether for innovation-driven development among cities in the Beibu Gulf.