Wuqing district sees flurry of projects

More than 160 projects in fields including biomedicine, smart technology and automotives have landed in Beijing-Tianjin Industrial New City located in Wuqing district, Tianjin, this year.

The total investment of the signed projects is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion), providing significant support for the implementation of scientific research achievements and the development of intelligent industries in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, according to the local government.

"Wuqing district has strengthened industrial synergy and integration, and deeply integrated into the industrial synergy circle of the capital," Xu Yingwu, government head of the district, said at a signing ceremony on Wednesday, where 45 companies signed agreements with the district government to expand their business.

Beijing Tsingke Biotech Co, a synthetic biology national high-tech enterprise, is one of the companies expanding operations in Wuqing. It is engaged in the research and development of synthetic genomics and biosynthetic products.

Tsingke will start building a new factory in Wuqing next month and put it into use next year. In the future, the factory here will produce 2 billion base gene pairs annually, said Xiao Xiaowen, the company's vice-president.

"In recent years, the Wuqing government has collaborated with institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University and China Agricultural University, facilitating the industrialization of 210 scientific and technological achievements and striving to establish a pattern of 'research and development in Beijing-Tianjin, transformation in Wuqing'," Xu said.

Lang Cong, director of the administrative committee of the Beijing-Tianjin Industrial New City, said that teams led by academicians Yuan Yingjin, a leader in synthetic biology from Tianjin University; Tan Tianwei of Beijing University of Chemical Technology; and Qiao Shiyan from China Agricultural University have all established scientific research achievement transformation bases in Wuqing, with some achievements reaching the pilot scale.

"Products such as micro needles, sustained-release capsules and drugs for treating uric acid have entered the pilot production stage. Beijing-Tianjin Industrial New City has significantly enhanced the efficiency of the implementation and transformation of these scientific research achievements," Lang said, adding that this is highly valued by many enterprises.

On March 12, the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress approved the outline of the country's 15th five-year plan, mentioning the need to deeply advance the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and build a modern capital-metropolitan circle.

The outline for Tianjin's new five-year plan, approved in January, emphasized fully integrating into the modern capital-metropolitan circle, attracting more landmark and leading projects through market-oriented means, and strengthening the construction of supporting platforms such as Beijing-Tianjin Industrial New City and Tianjin Binhai-Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park.