Major Deals Signed at CIFTIS Health Sector Drive Rapid Growth of Medical Industry

Since its opening, the Healthcare Section at the 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) has made a highly anticipated debut, drawing tremendous attention at the venue. During the exhibition, renowned domestic and international enterprises such as Bayer Healthcare, BD, BeOne Medicines, and Sinopharm China National Biotec Group showcased their innovative products. Healthcare institutions including Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, and Beijing Children's Hospital also presented cutting-edge medical technologies to attendees. Meanwhile, the Healthcare Services Special Exhibition featured a dedicated on-site signing area to facilitate partnerships among participating organizations. Throughout the event, multiple major cooperation agreements were successfully executed, sowing seeds for future achievements in China's healthcare sector.

As a public healthcare institution, Beijing Children's Hospital successfully matched and formally signed six projects in the contract signing area. “As the National Children's Medical Center, Beijing Children's Hospital has long attached great importance to scientific and technological innovation and the translation of innovative achievements into practice,” stated Ni Xin, President of Beijing Children's Hospital. He noted that all exhibited projects focus on pediatric clinical needs, using the resolution of key challenges and pain points as their “target,” while integrating healthcare with technological innovation trends such as digitalization, smart technologies, and systematization. The signed project, the “5G-Connected AI Infant Airway Management Remote Early-Warning Consultation System,” focuses on airway management—a critical factor influencing mortality rates among hospitalized pediatric patients. It features innovatively designed infant-specific bronchial blockers and dedicated video laryngoscopes, and enables mixed reality (MR) 3D modeling of infant airways, remote consultations, and AI-guided navigation and decision-making. This system helps improve the success rate of infant airway management and better serves the teleconsultation needs of primary healthcare institutions.

It is reported that the projects successfully signed on-site by the Children's Hospital also include the "Automated Assessment System for Children's Motor Development," which automatically evaluates children's motor development through exercises such as marching in place and jumping jacks; as well as the "Construction Project of the 'China Infant and Child Skincare Center'" and the "Project for the Upgrading and Translational Application of Children's Skin Barrier Research Findings," which are dedicated to advancing pediatric skin health in China, among others.

Ascentage Pharma and Consonance Biosciences, both committed to developing innovative drugs in therapeutic areas such as oncology and hepatitis B, also signed a Memorandum of Strategic Cooperation at the signing area of the thematic exhibition. Regarding the collaboration with Consonance Biosciences, Dr. Yang Dajun, Chairman and CEO of Ascentage Pharma, stated: “Currently, the level of precision and personalized therapy for hematological malignancies in China still requires enhancement. By leveraging genetic testing to accurately identify patients with the T315I mutation, we can enable them to access and properly utilize innovative drugs earlier, thereby achieving long-term survival. Furthermore, in clinical research, genetic testing allows us to precisely target patient populations and indications, thereby improving the efficiency and success rate of drug development, shortening the R&D cycle for new drugs, and accelerating regulatory approval and market launch.” Moving forward, both parties will strengthen the alignment of service and information resources, engage in deep cooperation on biomarker research and translation in clinical trials, and jointly explore ways to enhance the accessibility of biomarker detection methods for hematological malignancies.

It is noteworthy that Yisheng Biopharma has respectively signed strategic cooperation memoranda with Serbia's Poseidon Company and the UAE's PDC Company to jointly conduct clinical research on the PICCA recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine for both preventive and therapeutic indications. Guests including Song Ruilin, Executive President of the China Pharmaceutical Innovation and Promotion Association, Marjan Bozovic, First Secretary of the Embassy of Serbia in China, and Saleh Altheeb, Counselor and Head of Economic Affairs at the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in China, attended and witnessed the signing ceremony. The PICCA recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine is poised to become China's first universal vaccine featuring dual preventive and therapeutic functions against multiple viral variants. According to the introduction, the PICCA recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine is composed of the PICCA adjuvant combined with a recombinant trimeric SARS-CoV-2 S protein subunit antigen (S protein expressed in CHO cells), representing a new generation of COVID-19 vaccine developed leveraging novel adjuvant and recombinant protein technologies.

According to statistics, the Health and Healthcare section of the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) hosted nearly 20 signing ceremonies over two days. Strategic collaborations among multiple enterprises and multi-faceted project signings will help foster R&D and innovative thinking within domestic companies, expand complementary and win-win business synergies, and accelerate the practical implementation and clinical application of innovative medical achievements in China's healthcare sector. The health industry bridges public well-being on one end and economic development on the other. Looking ahead, the fruitful outcomes of these signed projects will generate greater value and benefit a broader population.