The 2024 International Biomedical Industry Innovation Conference Beijing Forum opened on the afternoon of October 24, with the theme of “Cultivating New Quality Productive Forces, Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Pharmaceutical and Health Industry”. Yin Li, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, and Zeng Yixin, Vice-minister of the National Health Commission, attended and addressed the opening ceremony. Yin Yong, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and Mayor of Beijing, was also in attendance.

In his speech, Yin Li stated that the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee stressed the need to improve policies that drive the growth of industries such as biomedicine, enhance mechanisms supporting the development of innovative drugs and medical devices, and further open up the healthcare sector. These efforts will foster innovation and growth in the global biomedical industry. As the capital of China, Beijing boasts key health indicators that align with international advanced standards. It is home to the country’s central pharmaceutical regulatory and approval authorities, with the largest number of top-tier hospitals, medical research institutions, and clinical medicine research centers in China. The city is also a pacesetter in the number of invention patents, newly approved drugs, and corporate investment and financing activities, creating a favorable environment for the biomedical sector. Since the beginning of this year, Beijing has launched the third round of its action plan to accelerate collaborative innovation in the medicine and health sector. The plan includes 32 measures to support the development of innovative drugs, cementing the foundation and creating broader prospects for enhanced communication and cooperation. In the current and upcoming period, the city will move faster towards becoming an international innovation center, creating a globally influential biomedical industry cluster and sharing opportunities for mutual growth. To this end, we will continue to promote cutting-edge technological innovations. This includes building high-level national laboratories to strengthen basic research and collaborative sci-tech research, facilitating the application of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, and expediting innovative breakthroughs in fields such as cell and gene therapy and synthetic biology. It is crucial to boost the development of the pharmaceutical industry through deeper integration of industry, academia, research and application, as well as coordinated development among parks such as the Zhongguancun Life Science Park. Efforts should also be made to optimize industry and supply chains, drive the collaborative development of the biomedical industry in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and support the planning and construction of the BioPark. Beijing will continuously strengthen policy support, enhancing resources allocation, supportive policies, and protection of medical intellectual property rights. Higher-quality services will be delivered throughout the process including drug approval and hospital applications to foster a market-oriented, law-based, and accessible business climate in keeping with international standards. Finally, Yin highlighted the importance of international exchange and cooperation, encouraging sharing of scientific instruments, maximizing the utilization of pilot policies for drug imports and customs clearance, and facilitating trade in biomedical products, technologies, and services.

Zeng Yixin stated that the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee highlighted the importance to improve the mechanisms to support the development of innovative drugs and medical devices. This has charted the course for the high-quality development of the biomedical industry. To achieve the goal of building a Healthy China by 2035, the National Health Commission, following the principles of the Central Science and Technology Commission, is facilitating a new round of major projects in new drug R&D. By fully leveraging the strengths of the new system for mobilizing resources nationwide, we aim to establish a drug R&D framework featuring efficient discovery, precise evaluation, and intelligent production, elevating China’s new drug innovation capabilities to a leading position globally. In addition, emphasis should be placed on major clinical needs and scientific challenges to make scientific breakthroughs and develop original innovation drugs addressing urgent clinical needs. This initiative will greatly enhance our people’s sense of gain, happiness and security. The innovative development of the biomedical industry carries the historic mission of safeguarding human health and well-being. We will remain committed to our mission of protecting people’s health and building a Healthy China, while promoting the innovation and internationalization of the biomedical industry. Furthermore, we will accelerate China’s integration into the global medical innovation network, contributing to the high-quality development of medical innovation and ensuring health for all mankind.

At the opening ceremony, Yin Yong presented “service packages” to the heads of eight key foreign-funded enterprises, including Lilly, MSD, Pfizer, Bayer, AstraZeneca, Medtronic, Danaher, and HUYABIO. Xu Jinghe, Deputy Commissioner of the National Medical Products Administration, delivered a speech, while officials from the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area and relevant municipal departments provided updates on initiatives such as the BioPark.

Attendees also include Beijing municipal leaders Jin Wei and Zhao Lei, Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal Government Zeng Jin, heads of national medical products regulators from Belgium and Brazil, as well as leaders of multinational pharmaceutical companies, experts, scholars, and industry representatives.

(Written by Qi Mengzhu and Fan Junsheng)