Pudong New Area in East China's Shanghai will beef up efforts to boost the growth of its biomedicine industry from 2022 to 2024, aiming to build a world-class biomedicine industrial cluster in the area, according to a three-year action plan released on Jan 26.

Biomedicine is among Shanghai's three leading industries, and one of Pudong's six core industries. The local government will strive to make Pudong a leader for the innovative development of biomedicine across the country, as well as the birthplace of new and innovative medicine.

Official data show that the scale of Pudong's biomedicine industry totaled 270 billion yuan ($42.43 billion) in 2021, and a number of key projects and functional platforms related to biomedicine are being developed in the area. Pudong also boasts advantages for the development of biomedicine such as a strong innovation capacity, institutional breakthroughs, and an improved industrial layout.

According to the action plan, the scale of Pudong's biomedicine will reach 400 billion yuan within the next three years. Two to three of the world’s top 100 biomedicine enterprises will be cultivated, and eight to 10 "hidden champions" (small-sized leaders in highly specialized global markets) in subdivision areas related to the biomedicine industry will be cultivated.

Biomedicine development will be promoted in the Zhangjiang Biotech and Pharmaceutical Industrial Base, which is dubbed the "Zhangjiang Pharma Valley", as well as in five other characteristic industrial parks. The goal is to optimize an industrial layout with the characteristics of being "developed in Zhangjiang and produced in other parts of Shanghai", according to the local government.

Denmark-based biomedicine company Novo Nordisk has established a new branch in the Lingang Special Area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone in the city's Pudong New Area. CHINA DAILY