Bird's eye view of Haikou National High-tech Industrial Development Zone. (PHOTO: VCG)

By Staff Reporters

As one of the four pillar industries of south China's Hainan province, the biomedical industry is encouraged to accelerate development. Relying on the key industrial parks of the Hainan Free Trade Port, the province is vigorously promoting integrated development of the industry, university, research institute, and medical organization.

Having been involved in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 30 years, Liu Wenmin, chairman of Qilu Pharmaceutical (Hainan) Co., LTD. witnessed the rapid development of the pharma industry in the New Drug Innovation Park of Haikou National High-tech Industrial Development Zone, also called Haikou Medical Valley.

Adhering to the strategy of "sci-tech innovation plus internationalization," Liu's company is speeding up the construction of a high-end intelligent processing and manufacturing center. The company's research institute has attracted more than 120 high-end talents, and its annual R&D investment accounts for nearly 10 percent of the annual revenue.

The company's development cannot be achieved without the good policies of Hainan province.

The province's 14th Five-Year Plan for High-tech Industry has listed modern biomedicine as a strategic emerging industry. In the Opinions on Offering Special Measures to Relax Market Access to Support Development of Hainan Free Trade Port, released by the National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Commerce, high-end medical institutions, medical equipment, and imported drugs are encouraged to be developed in the province.

In addition, Hainan has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Health Commission, to be a pilot area for the transfer of achievements of major new drug development projects.

To promote the pilot work, Hainan has taken targeted measures to promote the launch of a number of major projects. Focusing on the Haikou high-tech zone and Boao international medical tourism area, the province endeavors to perfect public infrastructure and service platforms.

"It is crucial to strengthen the weak points of innovation in the medical industry and establish efficient public infrastructure and service platforms, which benefits both the international competition and the self-improvement of the pharmaceutical industry chain," said Li Jinsong, deputy director of the Science and Technology Department of Hainan province.

Wang Lidong, general manager of Hainan Chang'an International Pharmaceutical Co., LTD. said, "Preferential fiscal and tax policies, convenient platforms, sound business environment, and policies for expert shave created better conditions for enterprises to develop in Hainan."

Furthermore, to solve the difficulty in importing items for biomedical research and development, the Haikou government, together with other related departments, is formulating an innovative mechanism for joint supervision of imported items for biomedical R&D, which is expected to be announced and implemented soon.