Marine Bioindustry Park in Shenzhen, China, Formally Established

A grand unveiling ceremony was held on November 18^th, 2009, marking the formal establishment of Longgang Marine Bioindustry Park in Longgang district, Shenzhen city, China. The ceremony was part of the major activities of China Hi-Tech Fair held in same city during November 16^th to 21^st.

The ceremony was co-organized by the People’s Government of Longgang District, Shenzhen Municipal Commission of Development and Reform, Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Fishery. Li Ming, one of the vice mayor of Shenzhen, attended and addressed the ceremony.

During the ceremony, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen Graduate School of Tsinghua University, Xiamen University, Shenzhen Shenbotai Biotechnology Co. Ltd and Shenzhen Global Biotechnology Co. Ltd signed agreements with Bureau of Agriculture and Fishery of Longgang District, signifying their formal entry into the park.

The latter two companies run the projects of “comprehensive utilization of shrimp processing residues” and “selective breeding and pedigree foundation of Litopenaeus vannamei” respectively.

Early this year, Jaw-Kai Wang, professor of University of Hawaii and member of National Academy of Engineering, USA, has already established a Bioengineering R&D Center in the Park aiming to develop algae fuel technologies for licensing.

The Park was a constituent part of Shenzhen National Bioindustry Base. It aims to incubate enterprises, promote commercialization and foster industry cluster in the field of marine biotechnology. The key projects to be introduced into the park include:

• Comprehensive exploitation and utilization of marine bioresources: marine  pharmaceuticals, marine bioactive substances, marine biomaterials, nutritional and healthcare food, cosmetics.
• Quality detection technologies of marine aquatic products: fast detection kit and assay reagents.
• Marine environmental remediation.
• Preservation and refined processing of marine aquatic products.

Shenzhen city, bordering Hong Kong on the north, is now a metropolitan city with a population of 14 million, developed from a small fishing village just 30 years ago. The city is the window of China’s policy of reform and opening up to the outside world.

Compiled and translated by Haiping Zhang