Huangpu welcomes another international advanced biomedical project

 Update:2020-01-15    Source: Chinadaily.com.cn

GDD signs a strategic cooperation agreement with Sinotech Tianze Biotech (Guangzhou) Co Ltd on Jan 11.

Guangzhou Development District (GDD) signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Sinotech Tianze Biotech (Guangzhou) Co Ltd on Jan 11 to join hands in promoting the development of high-end biomaterials and medical devices.

Sinotech Tianze Biotech (Guangzhou) Co Ltd was set up in GDD by Arthur Coury, former chairman of the Society for Biomaterials, as well as Wang Hao, doctor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his research team. A Sino-US research institute for advanced biomaterials was also established.

The research institute will focus on research and development along with the application of the new generation of bionic biomaterials, while the company will develop and industrialize the research outcomes of the institute.

In addition, the company will undertake a project, led by Arthur Coury, on basic bionic biomaterials, which can be widely applied to various medical devices, particularly interventional medical equipment.

The technology is expected to be released on the market within two years, reducing the country's import dependence, and is expected to be launched on the science and technology innovation board. The annual turnover of the technology in the upcoming five years will reach 3 billion yuan ($434.16 million).

A person in charge of the company pointed out during the signing ceremony that GDD, having complete infrastructure and abundant technological companies, is an important economic growth hub for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the whole of China, suitable as it is for the settling and development of technological projects and high-caliber talents.

Guangzhou holds first off-line robot & smart manufacturing fair after pandemic

 Update:2020-08-10    Source: Newsgd.com

The China (Guangzhou) International Robot & Intelligent Manufacturing Exhibition kicked off at China Import and Export Complex in Guangzhou on August 6th. It’s the industry’s first off-line exhibition nationwide after the COVID-19 pandemic and it will last until Saturday on August 8th.

The exhibition covers an area of 40 thousand square meters and has more than 400 enterprises display their latest products. These enterprises include key intelligent equipment suppliers such as SINOMACH, Xpeng Motors and PCI Tech.

SINOMACH displays the mask-making machine they developed during the pandemic. 

“The number of exhibitors increase despite of the pandemic. They bring a wide range of products including industrial robots, service robots, drones, smart wearable electronics, 3D printing technologies and IoT technologies. They show stronger interest in expanding domestic market this year,” said Liang Wanqian, operator director of SINOMACH Intelligence Technology and one of the organizers of the fair.

Colamark, a Guangzhou-based company, brings its vision tablet counter to the fair this year. Protected by various patents, the machine employs high speed imaging technology to provide tablet counting solution.

Zhou Ying, sales director of Colamark, said Europe and US are the major markets of the machine due to their strong demand for precise tablet counting technology. “Our clients include 17 of the Global Top 30 pharmaceutical manufacturers ranking in 2019. Now that the pharmaceutical industry is rapidly developing in China, expanding the domestic market will be our new focus.”

Smart equipment is a key component of the high-end equipment manufacturing industry in Guangzhou and is fundamental to the city’s economy. The Guangzhou government has been fostering the industry through advantageous policies in recent years. It has clustered a large number of related companies, and the output of its smart equipment industry reached 131 billion yuan in 2019.

Supported by the Guangzhou government, the fair is organized by Guangzhou Industry and Information Technology Bureau and SINOMACH.

Guangzhou strives to be world-class automobile base

 Update:2020-08-26    Source: eguangzhou.gov.cn

The automobile output of Guangzhou in 2019 reached 2.92 million, ranking first in China. 

Guangzhou is striving to build a world-class automobile industry cluster base, said Chen Jianhua, chief economist of the Guangzhou municipal industry and information technology bureau, during a press conference held in Guangzhou on Aug 24.

Guangzhou's automobile industry has maintained stable growth and the automobile output of Guangzhou in 2019 reached 2.92 million, ranking first in China. The production value of Guangzhou's automobile industry in 2019 reached 546.1 billion yuan ($79.02 billion), accounting for 28.4 percent of the city’s total industrial output value above designated size.

The city has released a document on boosting the development of its automobile industry on Aug 17, outlining several goals, such as achieving an annual automobile output of over 5 million by 2025, reaching a production value of 1 trillion yuan for its automobile industry above designated size, realizing the initial commercial operation of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, as well as forming a relatively complete world-class auto parts industry supply system.

Major automobile companies are encouraged to carry out integration, mergers and acquisitions, as well as strategic cooperation to build globally outstanding brands. A bonus of up to 100 million yuan for market promotion will be rewarded to companies with independent research and development ability for five consecutive years.

New models independently developed by local companies achieving a sales volume of over 10,000 in the first year of their debut can receive a one-time subsidy of up to 100 million yuan.

The city will build a comprehensive base for the smart network automotive electronics industry, with manufacturing companies that are newly introduced into the base eligible to receive a reward according to their fixed investments.

The document put forward that an experts think tank on the automobile industry in Guangzhou will be established to hold roundtable conferences regularly, carrying out discussions in pressing issues spanning graphene batteries, all solid state batteries, and ultralight materials.

GAMECO, Boeing to jointly build second freighter conversion line

 Update:2020-09-11    Source: chinadaily.com.cn

GAMECO holds its first 737-800 BCF door-cutting ceremony at its Guangzhou base, South China's Guangdong province, June 16, 2020. 

A second freighter conversion line will be built in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province, Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Company Limited (GAMECO) and Boeing jointly announced on Wednesday.

The move comes after GAMECO started operations of the first production line of 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) project in June this year.

The new production line is expected to be put into use in 2021, which will allow GAMECO to significantly increase its production capacity to meet the surging demand for freighters.

Companies can extend service life of aircraft and better meet market demands by converting passenger airplanes to freighters. GAMECO and Boeing launched the first 737-800BCF production line work in Guangzhou last year amid the growing need in the air cargo market. The novel coronavirus epidemic this year has further increased the demand for freighters carrying vital medical supplies and equipment, and also has pushed airlines to shift more of their business to air cargo, Boeing said.

The world will see 2,820 freighters come to the civil aviation market in the next 20 years, including 1,220 standard-body passenger-to-freighter aircraft, according to Boeing. China is expected to account for 30 percent of global demand for standard-body freighters.

Expo gives boost to cultural and tourist industry

 Update:2021-09-14    Source: Newsgd.com

The 2021 China (Guangdong) International Tourism Industry Expo (CITIE), held from September 10 to 12 in Guangzhou, has helped to revitalize the international cultural and tourist industry under the difficult circumstances of COVID-19 pandemic.

(Photo provided to Newsgd.com)

(Photo provided to Newsgd.com)

The three-day expo, with numerous events held for business communications and promotions, attracted exhibitors from more than 30 countries and regions around the world and over 10 domestic provinces to participate in both online and offline formats.

Statistics shows that the subsidies and coupons provided by the Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangdong Province have boosted tourist spending by about RMB 50 million yuan. Residents were able to enjoy discounts when they bought designated products by online payment or swiping their UnionPay cards on site.

(Photo provided to Newsgd.com)

(Photo provided to Newsgd.com)

"The CITIE is an annual gathering of the cultural and tourism industries. Under the backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic, the Expo is playing a positive role in pushing forward the revitalization of the tourism industry," said a staff member from Zhuhai Tourism Association.

The CITIE provided an industry resource linking platform for the exchange and cooperation between cultural and tourist industry and other industries. It helped the tourist enterprises break through the dilemma under the pandemic.

The integration between cultural and tourism industry as well as other inter-connected industries enabled exhibitors in the fields of animation, research study, countryside tours, sports as well as arts and crafts to share their products and services at the Expo.

(Photo provided to Newsgd.com)

(Photo provided to Newsgd.com)

One of them was the Guangdong Animation & Comic Industry Association. "The visitor volume on the first morning has been more than last year's three-day combined volume. We have negotiated with provincial cultural and tourism departments in detail to reach preliminary cooperation intentions," said Ao Gangmin, the secretary-general of the Association.

The expo also contributed to the digital transformation of cultural and tourist industry. With a series of digital technologies such as naked eye 3D, AR and VR, the Digital Culture and Tourism Area provided visitors with various activities in the fields of cultural exposition, intangible cultural heritage, performance and tourism.

(Photo provided to Newsgd.com)

Furthermore, CITIE has effectively promoted the balance between tourism supply and demand. Twenty industry exchange and promotion activities and four buyer-seller matching sessions were held, attracting professional buyer groups from travel agencies in and outside the province.

Guangzhou to develop rail transit into pillar industry

 Southern China's Guangzhou has issued a three-year plan to develop its rail transit industry, vowing to expand its scale to 120 billion yuan (17.8 billion U.S. dollars) by 2021, and realize an output value of 180 billion yuan by 2023.

The city's development and reform commission said Tuesday that the rail transit industry, due to its capital and technology-intensive features, and huge market potential, has become one of the city's priorities.

According to the plan, the city government will promote its major equipment manufacturing capacity, develop standard vehicles with independent intellectual property rights, and build an industrial park and maintenance and manufacturing bases.

A world-class inter-city rail transit network will also be developed in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, said Ding Jianlong, president of Guangzhou Metro Group.

Alibaba Cloud launches industrial internet platform in Guangzhou

    

Photo/VCG

Nov. 23 (NBD) – Alibaba Cloud announced Thursday the launch of an industrial internet platform at The Computing Conference in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. 

The three-tier structure of the industrial internet platform consists of industry-related IoT (Internet of Things) and ET Brain, as well as vertical applications related to a large variety of industries including semiconductors, petrochemicals, steel and metals, 3D printing, and energies.

Apart from Guangdong Province, Alibaba Cloud also set up industrial internet platforms in Zhejiang Province and Chongqing.

According to the concept of new manufacturing coined by Jack Ma, co-founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA), industrial internet platforms help Alibaba connect the data flow between the supply chain and production and marketing links and transfer the information directly to manufacturers for production, so as to stimulate the further development of the conglomerate's e-commerce business.

In recent years, the industrial internet segment, which is a key infrastructure for smart manufacturing, has shown a booming trend in China. Other tech titans like Tencent and Huawei also launched their industrial internet platforms.

Compared with European and North American countries, the industrial internet industry in China still faces barriers for its further development since there is a lack of talents that have a good understanding of both the industry and technologies.

Hu Xiaoming, president of Alibaba Cloud, stated differences also existed in IT environment between China and European and North American countries.

But Hu pointed out China enjoys its own advantages as well. 

The country has a large number of ISVs (Independent Software Vendors), he said. Cloud services infrastructure providers like Alibaba Cloud and Tencent Cloud are able to gather ISVs from various industries through PaaS (Platform as a Service) platforms to serve more manufacturing firms. 

Meanwhile, China's e-commerce and internet industry is highly developed. According to Hu Xiaoming, Chinese firms can make the most of its advantage to curb the costs, bring innovations and improve the efficiency through smart manufacturing. And more importantly, Chinese companies can advance the development of the C2B (customer to business) model via digital transformation, he added.

Hu Xiaoming is quite optimistic about the future of China's industrial internet and smart manufacturing sector. Chinese consumers now become internet users and this will promote the industrial, urban and economic growth, he explained.

Moreover, according to the insiders, China now has an opportunity of overtaking European and North American countries in the cloud computing industry, which will also drive the development of the smart manufacturing industry in China.

Email: wenqiao@nbd.com.cn

Editor: Wen Qiao

Guangzhou's cross-border e-commerce business has been the first in the country for 4 consecutive years

Since 2013, Guangzhou has become the pilot city of cross-border e-commerce, and its business volume has been the first in the country for 4 consecutive years. According to customs statistics, in 2017, the import and export trade of cross-border e-commerce in Guangzhou reached 22 billion 770 million yuan, an increase of 55.1% over the same period last year, ranking the first in the country, accounting for 1/4 of the gross national customs supervision.

I recently learned from the Guangzhou customs, in 2017, the Guangzhou customs clearance of cross-border electricity supplier audit import and export declaration list of 220 million votes. Of these, nearly 800 commodities are sold to more than 180 countries and regions in the world, and about 22 million 300 thousand of domestic consumers buy goods from all over the world, and the consumption amount is 12 billion 790 million yuan.

 

Build an industrial cluster area of cross-border E-commerce

At 1 a.m., with a plane full of fresh Boston lobster, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport was busy. A box of lobster by airport cross-border commodity "Easy Access" go through formalities, landing, orders, warehouse, sealing, storage, transport businesses to foster into the pool from the flight, only 3 hours.

On the other side of the city, at the gate of the Nansha bonded port area at 4 a.m., a container truck full of cross-border commodities is in order in and out, and it takes only 1 seconds from the card to the automatic release.

Now, Nansha bonded port area, Baiyun Airport comprehensive bonded zone has become the focus of Guangzhou's cross-border e-commerce industrial agglomeration area. As of now, the two sides have attracted vip.com, Tmall, Jingdong, suning.com, Amazon and other nearly 100 business platform, ZhuoZhi logistics, COSCO International, SF, Pei Wei Yun when the more than 30 logistics enterprises, the formation of agglomeration from the preferential policies and platform to cross-border electricity supplier ecosystem logistics convenient, complete financial innovation.

Guangzhou customs data show that in 2017, Nansha completed about 24 million 400 thousand tickets for online shopping bonded import business, accounting for 90% of Guangzhou. At most, Nansha customs cleared 2 million 67 thousand tickets a day.

At the same time, Guangzhou Baiyun Airport port clearance cross-border direct purchase of imported goods list of 10 million 710 thousand votes, the value of 3 billion 570 million yuan, tax 440 million yuan, an increase of 1, 88.9% times, 1 times, the index for 4 consecutive years in the first National Airport, and showed a sustained growth trend.

Cross-border e-commerce business has stepped up

The two bonded zones of Nansha and Baiyun Airport are developing vigorously across the border area, which is the epitome of the new trade pattern in Guangzhou. 1 billion 400 million yuan in 2014, 6 billion 700 million yuan in 2015, 14 billion 700 million yuan in 2016 and 22 billion 700 million yuan in 2017... In the past 4 years, how does Guangzhou's cross-border e-commerce business achieve a staircase growth and continue to lead the country?

In 2014, Guangzhou took the lead in carrying out direct purchase of import and export business throughout the country. Vip.com, Jingdong global purchase, Tmall international, Amazon and other enterprises have settled in Guangzhou, becoming the main force of the cross-border e-commerce development.

Since then, cross-border e-commerce has accelerated to become a new growth point in Guangzhou's foreign trade. In 2015, the import and export trade of Guangzhou's cross-border commerce was 6 billion 700 million yuan, a significant increase of 3.72 times, accounting for 40.3% of the whole province and 18.7% in the whole country.

Thanks to the growth of cross-border e-commerce business, in 2016, Guangzhou was selected to be selected as the second batch of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive test areas in China. This year, the small red book and other emerging e-commerce platform settled, the cross-border e-commerce retail import and export value of 14 billion 700 million yuan, an increase of 1.2 times than in 2015.

In 2017, the diversified development trend of cross-border e-commerce in Guangzhou was more obvious. The direct purchase of imported "exports" and "online shopping bonded import" and "the special supervision of the regional export and B2B business mode have been landed," armed mail "all-round start, balanced development of import and export business. In 2017, the import and export trade of cross-border commerce was 22 billion 700 million yuan, up 55.1% from the same period.

In addition, the construction of public platform has also strongly supported the development of Guangzhou's cross-border e-commerce. Guangzhou in the lead in the application of "unified version of the cross-border electricity supplier import information management system", is from the examination, inspection to release the full line operation. In 2017, "double 11" on the same day, the clearance of cross-border business about 16000000 votes, a one-day national business volume record.

Guangzhou Hui star Agel Ecommerce Ltd Customs Manager Lin Yibin said: "if the traditional supervision mode, daily goods should be at least between the customs hall and goods station ran 6 times. But now, the vast majority of commodity customs only need to click the mouse in front of the computer.

Last year the "The Belt and Road along

National and regional exports of 1 billion 550 million yuan

Not only is imported, "guanghuo" is to "Internet plus foreign trade accelerated" good "mode". According to Guangzhou customs office in the post office statistics, in 2017, the office of the export of cross-border electricity supplier report the total value of 8 billion 450 million yuan, accounting for 97.6% of the retail business of Guangzhou customs export. Among them, Russia, Israel, Poland, Hungary, Turkey, nearly 40 "The Belt and Road along, the countries and regions export 1 billion 550 million yuan.

This is due to Guangzhou's first implementation of the "list nuclear release, summary declaration" cross-border export supervision model innovation. "E-commerce enterprises export small pieces of goods by mail, which are fast, middleman, gross profit margin and pricing power. But in the past, the problem of" drawback is difficult "has been prohibitive for many enterprises. Lin Manyun, the head of marketing department of China Post Guangdong International Express branch, said that unlike traditional trade in goods, cross-border e-commerce providers hardly enjoy the bonus of export rebates and other policies.

After implementing the "list of nuclear release and summary declaration", the Guangzhou customs will go through the declaration list to handle the goods release formalities and form the customs declaration form, so that the enterprises can get the tax rebate certificate, and the problem of "drawback is difficult to solve". At present, this innovative experience has been applied to the whole country.

The next step, Guangzhou will continue to take the cross-border e-commerce comprehensive test area as the core, building the national cross-border e-commerce center city and development highland.

Guangzhou Unveils Innovative E-Commerce Cluster Masterplan

In order to capitalise on the rapid growth of e-commerce, Guangzhou has devised a blueprint for its future online development. Billed as the "1+1+9" initiative, the programme has been designed to establish a designated cluster of e-commerce operators in each of the city's districts.

The first "1" is a reference to the headquarters cluster, which will be established in Pazhou, the site of Guangzhou's planned central business district. In line with the overall plan, this will be the core cluster and also operate as the regional headquarters of a number of e-commerce giants.

Already, WeChat, Alibaba and Gome are said to be considering a move to the Pazhou cluster. Work on the site will begin soon and, once completed, it is expected to become a world-class, e-commerce hub, with an annual turnover in excess of Rmb100 billion.

The second "1" represents the planned cluster designated to operate in Baietan, a new development region stretching between Guangzhou and the nearby city of Foshan. Initially, this second cluster will be home to Weipinhui (vip.com) and Moonbasa, two of the mainland's leading e-commerce operators.

The "9" refers to the nine districts of Guangzhou, each of which will play host to a proprietary cluster. Each district will incorporate its own local advantages and requirements into its home cluster.

Overall, the development of a successful e-commerce offering is seen as an essential part of Guangzhou's bid to establish itself as an international trading centre. It is believed that e-commerce will help many of the city's traditional trading businesses in their moves to upgrade and expand. At the same time, it is hoped that a strong e-commerce presence will attract more companies to Guangzhou.

Although Guangzhou's e-commerce market is one of the most well-developed on the mainland, it is seen as having the scope to develop still further. At present, the city is not home to any of China's e-commerce giants, companies of the scale of Alibaba or JD.com. Instead, its e-commerce landscape is characterised by a number of small- to medium-sized companies.

The presence of the giants of the industry is seen as desirable not only in terms of achieving critical mass, but also with regard to boosting local employment and developing the logistics sector. It is hoped that, in due course, a number of such giants will relocate to Guangzhou, lured by its bespoke e-commerce environment.

E-commerce is increasingly seen as playing a key role in international trade. According to the Ministry of Commerce, Guangdong accounts for 70% of China's total cross-border e-commerce transactions, making the region ideally positioned to spearhead China's developments in this sector.

Guangzhou is also seeking to establish itself as one of the pivotal points along the Belt and Road Initiative, a move in line with its preeminent role in China's opening-up policy. As part of its bid to function as an international commercial and trading centre, the city is also looking at boosting its international shipping and transport facilities.

Natalie Lu, Guangzhou Office

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Delve into the core of AI and e-commerce in Guangzhou

From 1978 to 2017, the number of people living under the poverty line in rural China decreased by 740 million. The incidence of rural poverty fell by 94.4 percentage points. It is a stunning contribution to the global fight against poverty. China, however, is not yet satisfied with this result.

China’s Guangdong Province, a long-time trailblazer over the decades of reform and opening-up, plays an important role in the search for an answer to change the service industry and benefit the people. Currently, the answer is technology.

For years, Guangdong has been exploring a new way to develop itself into a technological haven. Nansha Area, one of three new areas in the Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ), shoulders part the responsibility of propelling innovation through technology.

By shifting its focus onto “IAB”, namely Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Biopharmaceuticals, Nansha New Area, the sixth state-level New Area in China of its kind, rose in response. It has developed into a new harbor for entrepreneurs in pursuit of notable achievements in technological industries, such as AI and e-commerce.

Administrative simplification for hi-tech companies

“The facilitation of strategical emerging industries is a major feature of Nansha Area. The AI industry, especially, is the core of a new round of technological innovation. AI technology penetrates through the advanced manufacturing industry, modern service industry and the construction of smart cities,” said Mao Yanhua, Vice Dean of Sun Yat-sen University’s Institute for FTZ Research.

In recent years, one of the only words that we hear time and time again when it comes to cars is "electric", indicating a relatively slow development in the car industry, especially when it covers a timespan of over 150 years. Its infusion with AI technology, however, might change the game.

“We say, ‘self-driving car projects are the mother of all AI projects,’” said Dai Xiaoming, an employee of the Strategic Development Department of Pony.ai, a self-driving car unicorn company with offices in China and Silicon Valley.

The phrase he quoted was once said by Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, on the future dominance of the autonomous car industry.

Entrepreneurs aren't the only ones who see a future in AI, so too does the government. In Oct. 2017, Nansha Development Zone sealed a deal with Pony.ai to reach an agreement to locate the company headquarter in the Nansha Area for further research and development.

Talking about the support from the local authorities, Cao Tiantian, Business Development Director of Pony.ai said, “We’ve received lots of support from the local government. We would often report to the government in advance, asking for a specific area in the city to test our product.”

She added that the only way to make AI even smarter is to retrieve valid data from real road tests, and Nansha Area plays an essential role in making that happen.

An official experimental instruction for the road test of autonomous-vehicles released by Nansha Area earlier this year prioritizes the idea “Be propelled by innovation, be the first to carry and try.”

It only takes 15 days for a self-driving car company to receive a governmental reply granting permission for a real road trial.

Aiming to become the world’s best autonomous car company, Pony.ai pays particular attention to employing more adroit talents in the industry. “The basic rule to compete in this industry is to attract as many talented people as you can,” said Dai.

Adding to this, Cao mentioned that there are collaborations among local authorities to cater to their needs. “The FTZ offers us huge support when it comes to employee settlement, tax preference and talent attraction. Most importantly, it takes much less time for an employee to settle down because of the simplification of the administrative procedure.”

Technological advantages make a smarter customs system

The past 40 years have witnessed a soaring change in per capita disposable income of Chinese citizens, from an average of 171 yuan (24.8 U.S. dollars) to 25,974 yuan (3768.4 U.S. dollars). The growing desire for high-quality products acts as a stimulus to the market that eventually incubates high-end e-commerce companies such as VIPSHOP (China), one of the leading B2C online retailers in China.

As an e-commerce company born and raised locally, VIPSHOP couldn’t be a better embodiment of the advancement of its mother town.

“Since the trial of cross-border e-commerce business started, VIPSHOP’s cross-border business has generated a revenue of over 8.24 billion yuan (1.2 billion U.S. dollars) as well as 1.1 billion (159 million U.S. dollars) in tax in the year of 2017,” said Peng Xinguo, Senior Warehouse Manager of VIPSHOP’s warehouse located near the Nansha harbor.

None of these achievements could’ve been made without the help of technology, especially the GQTS, aka the Global Quality Traceability System.

The Global Quality Traceability System, according to Yangcheng Evening News, is the world’s first quality inspection system which ensures the customers have complete knowledge about their imported products.

“It’s urgent for Guangzhou Harbor, which is now the fifth largest harbor in the world, to necessitate the smart custom clearance system,” said professor Mao.“The GQTS remains a pivotal part in the development of cross-border e-commerce through its advanced quality inspection system,” he added.

According to International Business Daily, by 2017, over 44 million tracing codes had been issued for products worth over 50.4 billion U.S. dollars.

Taking advantage of technological innovations and applying them to the construction of “smart harbors”, according to professor Mao, is a method that could be applied to other harbors in China along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road under the Belt and Road Initiative.

By He Zhuoyan (People's Daily Online)

Guangzhou enters race to attract international biotech companies with new supportive policies

Feb 11, 2019 (China Knowledge) - In its bid to catchup to cities such as Beijing, Suzhou and Shanghai, the city is now offering drug companies incentives to set-up operations in the city to develop new, novel drugs.

Such incentives have attracted companies such as GE Healthcare, which is subsidiary of conglomerate General Electric and specializes in medical imaging, diagnostics equipment and pharmaceutical manufacturing technologies.

The company is planning to build its first Asian biotech campus which spans 350,000 square meters in the China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City 35 kilometers downtown of Guangzhou by investing up to USD 800 million into the project.

In addition, GE will also work with the Guangzhou government and biotech industry players to fund “KUBio” modular bio-pharmaceutical factories which can shorten completion time from 30 months to 18 months, cut construction costs by half and accelerate the commercialization of drugs.

Guangzhou's move to turn itself into a biopharmaceutical hub comes as China emerges as the world’s second largest pharmaceutical market with cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Suzhou being key drug development centers.

To attract more international companies to choose Guangzhou over other Chinese cities, the city's government is offering companies with government investment, cheap land as well as loans. Some companies that have taken advantage of the government's supportive policies to start operations there include, Lonza which is one of the world's largest biopharmaceutical contract manufacturer and Beijing-based oncology firm Beigene.

Copyright © 2018 www.chinaknowledge.com

Guangzhou offers lots of carrots to win over international biotech players in race to catch up with Beijing and Shanghai

The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou thinks it has found the formula to catch up with Beijing and the eastern cities of Shanghai and Suzhou in the development of novel drugs: incentives to win over big international players.

Government incentives have attracted investment from such companies as GE Healthcare, a subsidiary of American conglomerate General Electric that focuses on medical imaging and diagnostics equipment and bio-pharmaceutical manufacturing technologies.

GE is building its first Asia biotech campus – covering 350,000 square metres and requiring US$800 million of investment – in the Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, some 35 kilometres northeast of downtown Guangzhou.

The “city” – a joint development project between Guangdong and Singapore in an area one-ninth the land area of Hong Kong – aims to house half a million people and foster high-tech industrial clusters in the high-growth emerging fields of information technology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, clean energy and advance industrial materials.

China pharma must swallow that jagged little pill called R&D as government slashes profit margins of generic drugs

GE will join the Guangzhou government and biotech industry players to fund the construction of several “KUBio” modular bio-pharmaceutical factories, which the healthcare giant says will shorten the completion time from 30 months to 18 months, cut construction cost by half, and quicken drugs commercialisation.

SCMP Graphics

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Guanghzhou’s push comes as China has emerged as the world’s second-largest pharmaceutical market, with Beijing, Shanghai and Suzhou key centres of drug development. The country now has 67 biopharmaceutical industrial parks, according to healthcare database compiler hsmap.com, though many are lacking in innovation capabilities.

Three of Guangzhou’s biggest competitors are: Beijing’s 2.5-square kilometre Zhongguancun Life Science Park, set up 18 years ago, whose 60-plus tenants include the National institute of Biological Sciences, Tsinghua University-affiliated genomic and diagnostics kits developer Capital Bio, Denmark’s Novo Nordisk and US biotech firm Sanofi Genzyme; Shanghai’s 3-square kilometre Zhangjiang Biomedical Industry Base established in 1996 that houses more than 400 biopharmaceutical firms, and Suzhou Industry Park’s BioBay that opened in 2007 and is home to more than 400 start-ups.

To try to persuade international players to set up shop in Guangzhou, the city is offering government investment into enterprises’ projects, as well as cheap land and loans.

Under an investment intent agreement signed in December, one KUBio modular factory will be built for Basel, Switzerland-based Lonza, a 121 year-old company and one of the world’s biggest suppliers of custom development and manufacturing services to drug developers.

Marc Funk, chief operating officer of pharmaceutical and biotechnology business at Lonza, says Guangzhou was a good spot for another facility because of government support.

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Asked why Lonza, which has production facilities in around 60 cities globally, decided to set up another facility in Guangzhou – whose novel drugs discovery industry is less developed than cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Suzhou – its incoming chief executive Marc Funk said government support plays a key role.

“Back in 2004, Lonza was the first to say ‘yes’ to the Singapore government’s request to build a plant there,” said Funk, currently chief operating officer of pharma and biotech. “We had the same discussion at the time [including the question of] why do it in a place where nobody knows how to do it.”

“With the right combination of government ambition, industry desire and knowledge of this part of the world, we have successfully built two plants in Asia … we see no reason why we can’t replicate the same success [in Guangzhou].”

Pharma firms face shake-up with China’s plan to bulk-buy drugs

Lonza already has a “small molecule” chemicals drugs factory in Guangzhou built in 2003.

Funk said It will enter into a “sale and leaseback” arrangement with GE, under which it will “rent” a “large molecule” biological therapeutics plant to be built by GE to Lonza’s specification for a number of years before taking ownership.

Some 160 workers are expected to be recruited to run the plant, which will be its first biological products facility in China and is scheduled to be completed next year.

Although biologics only accounted for 8.7 per cent of the global pharmaceutical research and development services market, it is forecast to grow by an average 16.8 per cent in the five years to 2022, much faster than 10.8 per cent of chemical drugs, according to the projections by market research consultancy Frost & Sullivan. Most novel cutting-edge cancer treatments are biologics products.

Funk said two reform policies by Beijing to speed up drug innovation were key to Lonza’s decision to boost its investment in China to meet surging demand for its services.

First, since 2016, a pilot project in 10 municipalities and provinces has allowed license holders seeking to commercialise their new drugs to use third-party manufacturers, instead of building capabilities in-house, as previously required.

This has benefited drug developers, particularly small and mid-size life sciences firms.

Second, a law change in July last year has also allowed foreign clinical trial data to be admitted in China for drug approval purposes, which has reduced the need for local clinical trials in China.

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“Those two changes changed immensely the opportunities to bring our manufacturing expertise to China,” Funk said. “They have allowed foreign firms to accelerate entrance into China.”

Beijing-based and Hong Kong and New York-listed cancer treatments developer Beigene is another company taking advantage of the Guangzhou government’s incentives, which include “strong support in funding, management service and a good business environment” according to a government statement.

A 2.2 billion yuan plant being built in the “knowledge city” will be funded with 200 million yuan of cash from Beigene, one billion yuan of cash and shareholder loan from the government, and one billion yuan of commercial loans.

The first phase construction of Beigene’s Guangzhou plant is expected to be completed in this year’s fourth quarter, a spokesman told the South China Morning Post.

The joint venture plant, in which Beigene has controlling stake, will produce biological therapies including Tislelizumab, an immuno-oncology drug under trials to prove its efficacy in manipulating the immune system to attack solid tumours and blood cancer cells.

Asked why Beigene decided to bolster facilities in Guangzhou given it also has facilities in Beijing and Suzhou, he said the Beijing premises are used for research and development, while the Suzhou plant focuses on small molecule drugs manufacturing and small-scale production of biologicals for clinical trials.

“The Guangzhou facility, on the other hand, is specifically built for large molecule biological drugs and is located in a much larger land lot … the local government has given us very favourable policy support,” he said.

Not all companies are as keen as Lonza and Beigene on what Guangzhou offers.

Bioduro, a San Diego, US-based supplier of outsourced drugs development services to drug discoverers with facilities in Beijing and Shanghai, is looking for a third site in China and is leaning towards cities not too far from the two Chinese cities for easier management.

“We did consider Guangzhou as our new site location,” its China general manager Deng Tianjing told the Post. “The city has attracted many big names to set up [facilities there], and there is no contract research organisation there yet which is attractive to us,” Deng said.

“However, compared to north and east China where we have been operating for years, we are less familiar with this region,” Deng added.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Guangzhou seeks a slice of booming drug market Guangzhou seeks slice of drug market