Jinan doubles down on biopharmaceutical and healthcare industry

Jinan ranks first in Shandong province in terms of its chemical and biological drug industries, making it the world's largest production base for hyaluronic acid, cephalosporin antibiotics, and ejiao, a gelatin used in traditional Chinese medicine, according to a news conference held on Sept 25.

In addition, the overall scale of the biopharmaceutical and healthcare industry in Jinan has surged from 102.7 billion yuan ($14.09 billion) in 2018 to 203.98 billion yuan.

Ji Peide, director of the Jinan municipal bureau of industry and information technology, stated that the biopharmaceutical and healthcare industry is a strategically emerging industry of national importance, and one of the four key pillar industries in Jinan. The biopharmaceutical sector is one of the 10 iconic industrial chains Jinan is striving to develop.

In recent years, Jinan has been bolstering efforts to develop its biophgarmaceutical and healthcare industry. It has formed five characterstic chain clusters in the following areas: biopharmaceuticals, traditional Chinese medicine, medical devices, medical aesthetics and anti-aging, and special medical food.

Jinan is home to 5,913 enterprises in the biopharmaceutical and healthcare sector. These include 594 large-scale industrial enterprises and 124 large-scale pharmaceutical manufacturing enterprises.

This year Jinan has planned and reserved 124 projects in the biopharmaceutical and healthcare industry, with a total investment of 118.95 billion yuan. These include five provincial-level key projects, such as Qilu Pharmaceutical's industrialization of super-large-scale preparation technology for biopharmaceuticals, 17 municipal-level key projects, 18 industrial carrier projects, and six research and development platform projects.