Nanfang Daily, Nanfang+:

We understand that biomanufacturing is considered a new industrial revolution in the manufacturing sector and has attracted significant attention. May I ask what considerations Guangdong province has in developing biomanufacturing? Thank you.

Ai Xuefeng:

Thank you for your question. Biomanufacturing utilizes biological principles and technologies to produce products. It is currently in the early stages of an industrial boom and is rapidly expanding into critical sectors such as food, medicine, materials and energy. This expansion is making it a focal point of competition among the world's major economies.

During the process of promoting mutual reinforcement between technology and industry, Guangdong province has planned for the biomanufacturing industry with foresight. We have established world-leading infrastructure for synthetic biotechnology. Big science facilities have provided support for both basic and applied basic research in synthetic biology and have been fully open and shared during construction to serve enterprises and industrial development. We have built an innovative service platform for biomanufacturing. We have established open innovation carriers, including synthetic biology innovation and entrepreneurship complex, industrial innovation center, and public service platform. Notably, last year, Guangdong province was approved to build a national biomanufacturing industrial innovation center in Shenzhen Guangming Science City, which is currently the only national-level industrial innovation hub in this field. We have nurtured a number of "new species" enterprises in biomanufacturing. In the past three years, one of every two synthetic biology companies in the country has settled in Guangdong province. At the same time, we have also achieved a series of innovative achievements. For example, the research conducted by the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on converting carbon dioxide into glucose and fatty acids, along with the world's first construction of the most comprehensive atlas of human immune cell development, have been included among the top 10 domestic scientific and technological advancements in the past two years.

Next, we will seize the opportunity to further accelerate the development of the biomanufacturing industry. First, we will optimize its development layout. We will promptly formulate an action plan for the industry's high-quality development, design key directions and fields based on technological and market maturity as well as Guangdong province's innovative advantages and industrial needs, and deploy major platforms and projects. Second, we will promote technological research and development in the biomanufacturing industry. We will coordinate special funds for technological innovation and advanced manufacturing, increase support for frontier and disruptive technological innovations in biomanufacturing, and build a globally leading source of innovation for biomanufacturing. Third, we will promote the industrialization of biomanufacturing research results. We will accelerate the construction of a number of pilot-scale testing platforms, further strengthen scenario applications, and promote biomanufacturing to empower key areas such as medicine and health, industrial materials, agriculture and food, new energy, and green environmental protection. Thank you.