As one of the main activities of the Beijing International Academic Exchange Season, the 2019 "Advanced Technologies in Biomedicine" summit was officially opened in Zhongguancun Life Science Park, Changping district on Nov 4.

Liu yinchun, deputy secretary general of the Beijing Municipal People's Government, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. Zheng Huanmin, member of the Party Committee and deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, Zhao Changshan, secretary of the Party Committee and chairman of the Zhongguancun Development Group also attended the event. Valda Vinson, editor in scientific research of Science, presided over the opening ceremony.

The summit aims to build a platform for extensive exchanges between international scientific and technological communities. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

To implement the framework cooperation agreement between the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission and Science/AAAS, the forum, which is guided by the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission and sponsored by Science, will promote academic exchanges and technological application discussions between global science and technology and innovative talents, and further contribute to the global development of science and technology.

Liu Yinchun pointed out in his speech that through nearly 30 years of global efforts in basic research and basic searches for applications, great progress has been made in biomedicine, and advanced technologies have become the focus of multidisciplinary research in the field. Beijing, with rich innovation, science and technology and talent resources, is focusing in that area.

As a key industry under development in Beijing, biomedicine is now the industry with the most perfect industrial chain, the most complete technological platforms and the most stable development trend. The western district of Future Science City is promoting the integration of science and education at Shahe University Town, and the Zhongguancun Life Science Park is creating a "bio-valley".

With the construction of Beijing's National Science and Technology Innovation Center, Beijing will further promote the science and technology exchanges and cooperation with other countries, and will jointly launch science projects with them in the field of science and technology innovation. The projects will be centered on biomedicine and will deepen academic exchanges in the field of basic research, and involve cooperation in technological research and development, personnel training and public platform construction.

Guests exchange views during the conference. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

It is hoped that global scientists in the biomedical field at the forum will conduct in-depth exchanges and forge consensus on the academic frontiers and future development challenges of biomedicine so as to promote its global development.

The two-day forum has more than 800 participants, including more than 20 top scientists, scientific research experts, industry executives, editors of famous academic journals and other academic and industrial elites from China, the United States, Japan, Singapore, and elsewhere. They will display the latest research findings in gene editing, stem cell technology, disease modeling, diagnosis and treatment.

The guests participating in the lectures and discussions include Ji Weizhi, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xie Xiaoliang, foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and academician of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine, Richard A. Young, academician of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine, Li Yinuo, chief representative of the Chinese Office of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as many winners of the Barcelona Global Award, the Shaw Prize, the Breakthrough Prize, and the Early Independence Award of the National Institutes of Health, and senior researchers, professors, team leaders and directors from Chinese and foreign research institutes.

As one of the main events of the First Science • Asian Brand Conference and the Beijing International Academic Exchange Season, the summit forum has given full play to brand advantages, high-end academic resources and international promotion channels of Science, creating a good international academic atmosphere.

The Science • Asian Brand Conference consists of a series of scientific research and exchange activities. In the future, it will focus on more frontier fields, and assist Chinese scientific and technological innovators, entrepreneurs and research and development personnel in the generation, incubation and cultivation of highly valuable scientific and technological and industrial innovation.

The Beijing International Academic Exchange Season is a high-end academic activity, which has been planned and organized by the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission since 2018 with the support of the Beijing Municipal Government.

The activity adheres to the principles of "focusing on academic research, gathering the world's top scientists, and conducting in-depth and multi-angle discussions". Its target is to build a platform for extensive exchanges between international scientific and technological communities in the frontier fields of basic research to promote the global influence of Beijing's National Science and Technology Innovation Center.