The 2023 International Conference on Pharmaceutical Innovation and Development was held in Yantai city of Shandong province on July 13.

Those in attendance included Jiao Hong, director of the National Medical Products Administration, Wang Guiying, vice-governor of Shandong, Zhao Xianguang, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Pei Gang, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhang Wei, chairman of the China Society for Drug Regulation. Zheng Deyan, mayor of Yantai, delivered a speech.

Jiao said the National Medical Products Administration has thoroughly upheld the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, adhered to the development ideology of putting people first, strengthened quality and safety supervision throughout the life cycle, maintained the overall stability of drug safety and effectively met the health needs of the people.

"We hope that all parties will increase their efforts in innovative product research and development, enhance the core competitiveness of China's pharmaceutical industry and contribute to the advancement of the Healthy China Initiative," Jiao added.

Wang briefly introduced the economic and social development of Shandong and said the province attaches great importance to the development of the pharmaceutical industry.

"We hope that all parties will boost the deep integration of industrial, supply and innovation chains and transform Shandong from a pharmaceutical manufacturing province into a pharmaceutical powerhouse," Wang said.

Zheng said Yantai aims to build a solid foundation for the growth of the biopharmaceutical industry and sincerely invites people from all walks of life to play a part in the process.

At the opening ceremony, Yantai officials presented certificates to drug and medical device companies that met the industrial policy for the year 2022.

Five innovative institutes, including the Yantai Institute for Life Sciences and Medicine and the Yantai Technology Innovation Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, as well as the first batch of sub-funds for Yantai's biopharmaceutical industrial development were also launched. Thirty-five key projects with a total investment of 17.2 billion yuan ($2.4 billion) were also signed during the event.