Former Israel government minister witnesses Guangzhou's bio-industry boom

Guangzhou International Bio Island has seen rapid development in the bio-engineering and pharmaceutical industries in recent years and Dr. Shuki Gleitman, former head of Israel's Ministry of Trade and Industry, has been a witness to the boom.

Half of the island remained non-occupied land when Gleitman came to Guangzhou in 2013 to guide technological innovation in the field of healthcare. Thanks to his efforts, the Guangzhou Sino-Israel Bio-Industry Investment Fund was established in 2015 to push the development of life sciences.

As of now, the island is home to more than 200 enterprises, serving as a bridge for cooperation between China and Israel. A number of cooperative projects or Israel-invested projects have been introduced, making the island a gathering area for high-end bio-industries.

"We have brought some international companies to the island. Some of them are joint ventures, which have been proved to be a successful business model," Gleitman said proudly.

Gleitman has attended the Guanzhou International Bio-Forum three times in a row since the forum started to be held on the island in 2017. He said he likes to share his feelings for the changes in China he's witnessed at the forum.

"About five or six years ago, the local government had few preferential policies to support the development of innovation-oriented companies. Now, there are many funds to support companies to do research. All I know is that we are making progress," Gleitman said.

Some international companies may worry that their intellectual property will not be well protected when they invest in China, even though they are very interested in the Chinese market. Gleitman removed their doubts with his own experiences. "The companies' intellectual property is well protected here and everything is developing in a positive way," he said. He also revealed that they will introduce five to 10 companies to the island in the following year. 

However, he said that there is still a long journey to go for the development of China's biomedicine industry. "China has done very well in the information technology industry. It is very different for life sciences. There is a long way to go, but I think the direction is right, and that's why we came here," Gleitman said. He also spoke highly of Guangzhou's development, but at the same time pointed out that the city needs to integrate clinical research. "All of this needs the whole industry to make a long-term effort," he said.

"Guangzhou is a very attractive city. I love it very much. I like its living environment and history," He added, noting that he will stay in the city to further promote the development of the biomedicine industry.