Tina Sejersgård Fanø, global executive vice president of Novozymes, speaks at the fifth China Bioindustry Convention (Bioind) in Wuhan on June 10. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]

The fifth China Bioindustry Convention (Bioind) kicked off in the East Lake High-tech Development Zone (also known as Optics Valley of China, or OVC), Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, on June 10.

Bioind is the largest meeting in the bioindustry in China with the highest standard and the most expansive influence. It has been successfully held 14 times in Wuhan or Guangzhou since 2018. The convention this time was themed on a new landscape, new beginning, and new engine for bioeconomy.

Cong Liang, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, congratulated on holding the meeting, highlighting developing bioeconomy as an integral approach to ride on the global biological technology acceleration momentum. Cong said that the commission would further enhance the physical infrastructure construction, bolster the integrated application of biotechnologies, and provide related policy and systematic guarantees for the industry.

After the opening ceremony, 67 project agreements were signed, worth 39.7 billion yuan ($5.56 billion), in innovative biological drugs, active pharmaceutical ingredients, high-end medical equipment, biological services, and healthcare products. Nine representative enterprises signed collaboration contracts with OVC.

Tina Sejersgård Fanø, global executive vice president of Novozymes – a leading Danish biotech powerhouse whose business is industrial enzymes and microorganisms – elaborated on examples in terms of turning waste into energy and carbon capture and utilization, putting forward biological solutions in agriculture, industries, and consumer market. 

She estimated that her company could help China reduce 55 million metric tons of carbon emissions by minimizing chemicals, transforming food processing systems, and other measures.  According to her, Novozymes now has set up six branches with more than 1, 000 staff members in China since 1993, when it established its first workshop in the nation.

Shi Yigong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and president of Westlake University, made six proposals at the event, including doubling support for original primary research and creating an international talent cultivation and retention mechanism.

Hubei is a regional bioeconomy development hub, boasting 31 academicians, 32 national sci-tech platforms, Asia's first biosafety level 4 laboratory, and China's first animal biosafety level 3 laboratory.

The display booth for OVC's Biolake. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]

The Biolake in the Optics Valley of China is home to more than 3,000 biotech firms, and its overall strength ranks fourth in the nation.