Taizhou city acts to boost health sector

Things will only get better at Taizhou Medical High-tech Zone, under a new blueprint for its development. [Photo provided to etaizhou.gov.cn]

The city of Taizhou in East China's Jiangsu province is poised to boost the high-quality development of its health industry.

It recently released a work plan which mapped out six main actions that are designed to set the balling rolling for a major improvement in the important sector.

Under the plan, the aim is to achieve high-tech industrial output in the health field that accounts for 60 percent of the city's total industrial output generated by enterprises above a designated size – those with annual revenue of 20 million yuan ($2.9 million) or more.

In addition, Taizhou will attract and cultivate more than 300 national high-tech enterprises to set up operations there. It will also cultivate more than 25 gazelle enterprises, more than 15 potential unicorn enterprises and more than two unicorn enterprises in the health field by 2025.

A gazelle company is a young fast-growing enterprise with core revenues of at least $100,000 and four years of sustained revenue growth, while a unicorn is a private startup company with a value of over $1 billion. 

Furthermore, Taizhou wants to attract more than 300 sci-tech projects and innovative carriers.

The plan also includes actions to optimize and enhance platform carriers.

The goal is that by 2025, a national innovation center for animal bio-products will be established and two professional research institutes for municipal industry-academia collaborations will be started.

Moreover, 10 enterprise joint innovation centers will be established and over 10 provincial and above level new R&D institutions and entrepreneurial incubation carriers will be added.

What's more, over three offshore innovation centers will be built and the coverage rate of R&D institutions of medical and health enterprises above a designated size will reach 70 percent, with more than 15 enterprises meeting the required standard for R&D institution management.

On top of this, the plan includes actions to promote the research and application of key technologies in the industry. A special project will be set up to improve the innovation capacity of the health industry, while more than 10 health industry technology R&D projects.

The city also plans to achieve breakthroughs in 50 key core technologies in the health field. On top of that, 30 projects geared towards the commercialization of sci-tech achievements will be implemented.

Actions will also be taken to ramp up sci-tech finance, with the goal to issue more than 10 billion yuan of sci-tech loans by 2025 and to launch more than three sci-tech insurance products in the health sector.

The plan also envisages recruiting top personnel from the health industry, as well as outlines measures to expand industry-academia research cooperation. Taizhou will establish four to five CTO alliances in the health field, register two provincial innovation joint bodies and hire more than 5,000 first-class people by 2025.

According to Bao Ya, director of the Taizhou science and technology bureau, the biggest feature of the plan is its comprehensive policy support for the big health industry.

Notably, it will establish the first special item in the enterprise innovation credit management system. This will bolster innovation capabilities in the health industry – covering all aspects of enterprise development – with a projected budget for grants of 40 million yuan.