More than 200 Chinese and British academicians, scholars and entrepreneurs in the bio-tech and health industry gathered at a project matchmaking event to seek innovative cooperation in Guangzhou's Huangpu district on July 10.

Zhong Nanshan, a renowned respiratory expert and academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, gives a keynote speech at the event in Guangzhou, July 10. [Photo/hp.gov.cn]

The British delegation brought a raft of cutting-edge theories and technologies on health management, covering the whole industrial chain of health technology for the elderly.

The technologies include exercise incentives, sleep health, individualized diet nutrition design, mental health tracking, stress management, hearing screening, neuroprotection, spinal physical therapy, and long-distance medical services.

The Chinese attendees included enterprises specializing in technologies for aging health (diagnosis, rehabilitation, assistance, chronic disease management, telemedicine, electronic medicine), Alzheimer's disease and neurodegenerative disorders, as well as representatives from bio-tech firms, research institutes, investment institutions, universities and major hospitals of Guangzhou.

Since its debut in 2011 in the Guangzhou High-tech Industrial Development Zone (GHIDZ), the project matchmaking event has been devoted to promoting cooperation between Chinese and British innovation-oriented companies.

It is also committed to speeding up the UK's export of high value-added technology and products in life science and health to China and has grown into an effective channel for Chinese enterprises to tap into the European market.

The previous nine versions have witnessed the signing of over 200 MOUs between companies from China and the UK.

Paul Thorning, director of Open and Innovation at the University of Bradford, noted that the cooperation and innovation between the two countries bring huge business opportunities.

The GHIDZ, Guangzhou Development and Huangpu district houses more than 600 biomedical companies. Data show that in 2018, their turnover achieved 78.5 billion yuan ($11.42 billion), accounting for 60 percent of the city's total. The zone was named the top biomedical park in China in April last year.

Huangpu has been home to a group of leading enterprises and research institutes focusing on gene detection, recombinant protein, cell therapy, stem cells, tissue engineering, and 3D bioprinting.