The Xiamen Biomedical Port exhibition hall displays medical products produced in Xiamen. [Photo/CFP]

Xiamen has formed a biomedical and health industry cluster characterized by medical devices and diagnostic reagents, with the industry performing well. In the first half of the year, the industry is expected to achieve an output value of 47.3 billion yuan ($7.32 billion), a year-on-year increase of more than 20 percent.

With strong innovation capability in the fields of new vaccines and genetic engineering, Xiamen has achieved an output value of 18 billion yuan in the in vitro diagnostic (IVD) industry in the first half of 2021.  

A large number of COVID-19 detection kits produced in the city were exported to Europe and Americas, driving the total export value of Xiamen’s biomedical products to 8.25 billion yuan in the first half of the year.

To date, Xiamen has more than 1,000 biomedical and health care companies, of which 358 are national high-tech enterprises. The output value or revenue of 37 companies among it have exceeded 100 million yuan in the first half of this year, of which 88 companies had a growth rate of more than 100 percent.

The city will host the Xiamen International Conference on the Biomedical Industry 2021 later this year, which will focus on the latest market trends, as well as innovations like protein engineering design in the industry.

"The Xiamen International Conference on the Biomedical Industry 2021 will gather talent, funds, research and development, as well as engineering applications for the future development of this industry," said Cao Weimin, deputy director of the Xiamen municipal science and technology bureau. "We will also provide policy support for the conference."