The Guangdong High-Performance Medical Apparatus and Instruments Innovation Center based in Shenzhen has been approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to be upgraded into a national-level center, marking the country’s first national-level innovation center in the medical device sector.
The new national innovation center is also the first one of its kind in Shenzhen, according to the Shenzhen Industry and Information Technology Bureau at a news conference Friday.
Jointly established by the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technologies (SIAT) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen Mindray Biomedical Electronics Co. Ltd., Shanghai United Imaging Medical Science and Technology Co., Lifetech Scientific (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., and Harbin Institute of Technology, the center welcomes a combination of medical enterprises and industrial associations, and operates in a market-oriented mode.
By effectively integrating innovative resources, such as leading enterprises in the medical device industrial chain, research institutes and industry associations, the center is expected to serve the entire industry and important application areas, and create a global open platform for innovation, entrepreneurship, and industrial integration.
“The innovation center will adopt a dynamic mechanism in market-oriented operation, innovation collaboration, intellectual property operation and talent recruitment. It is expected to fill the gap between academia and industry through technological innovation and engineering,” said Zheng Hairong, director of the innovation center and deputy head of SIAT.
Chen Jianmin, deputy head of Longhua District, where the center is located, noted that the district will give full play to the location advantages of the manufacturing industry, strongly support the construction of the high-performance medical device innovation center, and create a center with global influence.
SIAT is a leading institute in medical instruments research in China and Mindray is the largest medical instrument manufacturer in China with operation income reaching 16.5 billion yuan (US$2.36 billion) in 2019. United Imaging is a leading medical imaging equipment manufacturer.
Currently, there are 16 national manufacturing innovation centers in China, including the one in Shenzhen.
Official data showed that there are now 900 manufacturing firms and 2,000 operating firms in the medical equipment field in Shenzhen. Among them, the annual production value of 50 enterprises has exceeded 100 million yuan.
From 2010 to 2018, the compound annual growth rate of the production value of the industry hit 12.43 percent, and a group of outstanding firms, such as Mindray and Lifetech, were springing up, the bureau said.
