Forum spotlights Beijing as innovation hub for global medtech players

Experts from assorted Asian countries met at an international forum in Beijing on May 29 to discuss ways to innovate medical technology exchanges and cooperation to improve global healthcare services.

The Beijing International Centre of Science and Technology Cooperation and the Beijing office of the Asia-Pacific Medical Technology Association (APACMed) co-hosted the event, which brought together more than 80 representatives from government agencies, academia, medical institutions, and industry.

According to Zhang Zehao, deputy director of the Beijing center, two additional goals of the forum were to accelerate international medical technology applications and promote Chinese medical achievements on the world stage.

Zhang Li, chief representative of China APACMed, said that Beijing's "dual-engine" industrial innovation development strategy will present opportunities for collaboration across clinical, academic, and industrial sectors. The approach focuses on "new-generation information technology and the pharmaceutical and health industries".

Zeng Jinsong, secretary-general of the Institute for Global Industry at Tsinghua University, said: "We launched a new industry evaluation standard aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals at the United Nations in April, distributing reports to 193 countries and regions."

According to him, deep academia-industry integration via transnational collaboration avoids geographical limits.

Xu Ming, director of the Department of Global Health at Peking University's School of Public Health, highlighted efforts for developing cross-border infectious disease control and health data sharing, as well as demonstration projects for tuberculosis screening and infectious disease prevention and control.

"The integration of advanced medical technologies like artificial intelligence with traditional public health systems is establishing a regional pharmaceutical regulatory coordination mechanism for ASEAN countries," he said.

Representatives from CP Group, Philips (China) Investment, and others used the event to share insights from academic, clinical, and enterprise perspectives.