The first Sino-Swiss Biotech Forum was held simultaneously in Basel, Switzerland and Shanghai, China on the 7th, September 2021.
The first Sino-Swiss Biotech Forum was held simultaneously in Basel, Switzerland and Shanghai, China on the 7th, September 2021. The forum has established a dialogue platform for enterprises, research institutions and government departments of the two countries.
Professor Minyue Dong, the organizer of the forum and director of China Economic and Financial Center (CEFC) at the University of Lausanne, indicated that the purpose of this forum is to introduce the latest developments in the fields of biomedicine and life sciences in China and Switzerland, and to build a new and efficient dialogue platform for enterprises, investors, research institutions and government departments of the two countries in order to promote cooperation between the two countries in R&D, innovation, investment and industrial development.
This forum is co-hosted by China Economic and Financial Center (CEFC), Shanghai BioBridge, Swiss Biotech Association and the Basel Area Business & Innovation. The forum is divided into two offline venues in Basel and Shanghai and is connected through online video conference. Hundreds of guests including government officials, entrepreneurs, investors and scholars from the two countries attended the meeting.
Christopher Rudolf, the founder & CEO of Volv Global SA, attended the conference in Basel and said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that Switzerland has many start-up companies in the field of biotechnology and enjoys technological advantages, while China has a broad market space, so there is huge potential for cooperation between the two countries in this field.
Claude Joris, secretary-general of the Swiss BioAlps Association, said that improving people's health and prolonging life expectancy is the common pursuit of Swiss and Chinese biotechnology researchers. China's biopharmaceutical industry is huge in scale and developing rapidly, and there is a broad prospect for industry-university-research cooperation between Switzerland and China in the field of biotechnology.
Prof. Minyue Dong pointed out that the challenges brought by the Covid-19 epidemic highlighted the importance of international cooperation in the field of biomedicine, which is an important strategic emerging industry in China, while Switzerland has a number of large multinational companies in this industry such as Novartis and Roche, as well as the world's leading innovation, entrepreneurship system and industry-university-research integration system. The international cooperation in the biomedical field of the two countries will play a more positive role in the development of the industry.
As one of the important agendas of the forum, the Sino-Swiss Life Science Alliance was announced on the same day. The alliance is a network of Chinese and Swiss research institutions, enterprises and industry organizations, financial institutions and government departments. It aims to strengthen Sino-Swiss cooperation in the field of life sciences by holding dialogue activities, strengthening personnel exchanges, and promoting transformation of academic studies and scientific research achievements.
Source: Xinhua News Agency, Basel, Switzerland, September 7th, 2021 (Reporter Chen Binjie and Jiang Xuelan)
Link to the original article: http://www.news.cn/tech/2021-09/08/c_1127841091.htm
Link to the video: http://www.news.cn/world/2021-09/09/c_1127841935.htm