2024 World Life Science and Technology Conference Successfully Held in Hengqin, Themed on 'New Quality Productive Forces Driving High-Quality Development in Life and Health Industries'

December 7–8,Guided by the Chinese Medical Association, the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, and the China Association of Chinese Medicine, and hosted by Zhejiang University and the Department of Medical and Health Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, with support from the Executive Committee of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, the 2024 World Life Science Conference was successfully held in the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin (hereinafter referred to as the “Hengqin Cooperation Zone”).

Themed “New Quality Productive Forces Driving High-Quality Development of the Life and Health Industry,” the conference aims to promote the integration of life sciences, clinical medicine, and health entrepreneurship. It brings together the brightest minds from the global medical, scientific, and industrial communities, while also engaging leaders from the political, business, and economic sectors.Focusing on the “Life and Health” sector, showcasing collaborative and innovative achievements by global scientists in the field of life and health.

Chen Zhu, Vice Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress, Chief Technical Officer of the Major Special Project on Four Major Chronic Diseases, Lifetime Professor at Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Ho Iat Seng, Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region and Chairman of the Management Committee of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin; Shen Hongbing, Deputy Director of the National Health Commission, Director of the National Administration of Disease Control and Prevention, and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; Li Weinong, Secretary for Economy and Finance of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin; Gao Zhanjun, Director of Bureau No. 3 of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; Nan Chunmei, Vice President of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association; Zhu Shiqiang, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Zhejiang University; Song Yonghua, Rector of the University of Macau; Xu Zhongchao, Managing Director of CICC Capital and Head of the Hengqin Industrial Fund; and other leaders, experts, scholars, and scientists attended the event and delivered speeches, discussing the integration and innovation in life and health.

At the opening ceremony, a series of major events were held in succession, including the announcement of the winners of the 11th Shulan Medical Award, the signing ceremony for the Joint Research Center for Life Science and Technological Innovation, the unveiling ceremony of the Alliance for Infection Control and Health Promotion, the launch of the “Action Plan to Eliminate Viral Hepatitis by 2030” and the public welfare platform for collaborative prevention and control of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) initiated by the Standardized Liver Disease Management Center (SLMC), the 2024 SATOL Awards Ceremony for Leaders in Life Science Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the establishment ceremony of the “Tubeless Center” at the National Respiratory Medicine Center, the launch ceremony of the Academician Team’s Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) for Oncology under the initiative “Strengthening Primary Care and Benefiting the People,” and the “Organ Protection China Tour 2024+.”

The 11th Shulan Medical Prize was announced at the opening ceremony.Academician Chen Xiangmei of the First Medical Center of the Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Academician Huang Xiaojun of Peking University People's Hospital, and Professor Xie Tian of the School of Pharmacy at Hangzhou Normal University were awarded the “Shulan Medical Award.” Academician Chen Saijuan, Academician Su Guohui, and Academician Chen Zhinan of the Chinese Academy of Engineering read the award citations for the recipients, respectively. Chen Zhu, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress, Chief Technical Officer of the Major Special Project on Four Major Chronic Diseases, and Lifetime Professor at Ruijin Hospital affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, along with Academicians Zheng Shusen and Li Lanjuan of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, presented the certificates, trophies, and plaques to the awardees.

The list of winners for the “Shulan Medical Youth Award” was also announced at the conference.The crown was claimed by 15 young medical scientists: Zhao Han from the Reproductive Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University; Chi Xiangyang from the Academy of Military Sciences of the Chinese People's Liberation Army; Zhou Chenchen from West China School of Stomatology, Sichuan University; Fan Jin from the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University; Zhu Shu from the Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China; Yi Chengqi from the School of Life Sciences, Peking University; Yang Pengfei from the First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University of the Chinese People's Liberation Army; Lu Zhihong from the First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University of the Chinese People's Liberation Army; Yu Jintai from Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University; Li Huabing from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine; Liu Qiang from Tianjin Medical University General Hospital; Gao Dong from the Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Liang Guang from Hangzhou Medical College; Liu Yue from Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences; and Li Yifang from the School of Pharmacy, Jinan University.

Meanwhile,The conference also released the list of the “Shulan Excellence Program.”Ten outstanding experts have been included in the list: Xiong Yan from Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wu Jie from Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Zhang Xiuping from the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Peng Chuanhui from the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhang Qiang from the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Ye Linsen from the Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Feng Hao from Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Yang Bo from Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Liu Kang from the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, and Liang Wenjin from Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University.

The Shulan Medical Award has always adhered to its mission of “honoring distinguished experts, nurturing emerging talents, and advancing education.” Focusing on frontier developments in medicine and pharmaceuticals as well as groundbreaking original innovations, and guided by the principles of “fairness, openness, and impartiality” in its evaluation process, the award maintains “high standards, high quality, and high prestige” in its review procedures. It has become one of China’s most large-scale, authoritative, and credible social awards. Since its launch in spring 2024, this edition of the Shulan Medical Award has attracted widespread attention from all sectors of society, drawing enthusiastic participation from experts and scholars at more than 60 universities, hospitals, and research institutes. Among the nominees for the Medical Award, the oldest was 73 years old, and the youngest was 33 years old.

At the meeting,The Joint Research Center for Life Science and Technology Innovation, established through the collaborative efforts of seven institutions including the State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Infectious Diseases and the Institute for Collaborative Innovation and Translation in Life Sciences, has officially signed its founding agreement.This marks a solid step forward in collaboration within the field of life science and technology innovation. The Joint Research Center for Life Science and Technology Innovation will bring together superior scientific resources and talent from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, across China, and even globally in the fields of life health and related interdisciplinary areas. By adopting an operational model characterized by cross-disciplinary integration, strong synergy, and comprehensive support, it aims to build a high-end research platform with international influence and deep multidisciplinary integration in life sciences, as well as a national-level technological innovation center. It will contribute scientific and technological strength to safeguarding people’s lives and health and improving the level of medical and health services in China.

Subsequently,The Anti-Infection and Health Promotion Alliance was also officially unveiled at this conference.The alliance aims to pool the strengths of top scientists and medical institutions worldwide, fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration to drive technological innovation in the field of anti-infectives and improve public health. Moving forward, the alliance will deepen its cooperation with domestic and international research institutes, universities, and healthcare organizations. It will conduct more in-depth exploration and collaboration in areas such as anti-infective research and health promotion, comprehensively enhancing medical technologies for infection prevention and control as well as healthcare service capabilities, thereby contributing to the building of a shared future for human health.

To address the two major global public health challenges of viral hepatitis and fatty liver disease, at the conference,China Standardized Liver Disease Full-Course Management Center (SLMC) Announces the Official Launch of the 2030 Action Plan to Eliminate Viral Hepatitis | Collaborative Prevention and Control Platform for Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease.In the future, the Standardized Liver Disease Management Center (SLMC) in China will continue to promote proactive management of liver diseases, achieving standardization of whole-course management and normalization of diagnosis and treatment for chronic liver diseases.

At this conference,Xu Zhongchao, Managing Director of CICC Capital and Head of the Hengqin Industrial Fund, stated that they will jointly launch the “CICC Shulan Medical Industry Investment Fund” with Shulan Healthcare., focusing on and supporting more outstanding companies in the life sciences and health industry.

As a major competition in the life sciences sector,2024 SATOL Life Science Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Leadership Awards Ceremony Held Concurrently with the Opening CeremonyThe competition has been held for six consecutive years, accumulating 2,521 high-quality project submissions, yielding 10 “unicorn” and “quasi-unicorn” projects, and facilitating the establishment of more than 70 projects. This year, following rigorous evaluation, ten outstanding individuals were awarded: Fan Jiangli from Dalian University of Technology; Liu Jiannan from Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine; Su Jiacan from Shanghai University; Wang Jianjun from the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Wu Song from Shenzhen University Affiliated South China Hospital; Wu Yuxuan from Yaotang (Shanghai) Biotechnology Co., Ltd.; Xin Liming from Shanghai University; Xu Qi from the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences; Ye Qingsong from Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University; and Yang Tian from the Third Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University (Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital).

Next,The National Center for Respiratory Medicine’s “Tubeless Center” and the “Strengthening Primary Care to Benefit the People – Academician Team’s Oncology MDT” were launched at the conference.

The establishment of the “Tubeless Center” brand marks the official launch of a multidisciplinary, innovative medical platform centered on tubeless minimally invasive techniques at the National Respiratory Medicine Center. This tubeless thoracic surgery technique, pioneered internationally by Professor He Jianxing’s team, has not only brought revolutionary changes to the early diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer but also provided novel solutions to numerous challenges in thoracic surgery, urology, cardiology, and other fields. The Academician Team’s Tumor Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) aims to steadily enhance the tumor prevention and control system, tumor screening, early diagnosis and treatment, and comprehensive prevention and control capabilities by 2030. By leveraging top-tier expert resources, it provides high-level MDT services for complex tumor cases across the 16 prefecture-level cities in Shandong Province, comprehensively improving the tumor diagnosis and treatment capabilities of county-level hospitals and promoting the development of county-level tumor prevention and control centers in Shandong Province.

Furthermore,“Organ Protection China Tour 2024+” Embarks on a New Journey at This Year’s Life Science Conference.At today’s opening ceremony, the conference announced the official launch of the Collaborative Platform for High-Quality Development and the Ascent Plan in the Disciplines of Hepatobiliary, Pancreatic, and Organ Transplantation in China, to foster innovative development in the nation’s organ transplantation industry.

The conference also invited dozens of top experts and scholars in the field of medical science, as well as over one hundred young scientists and medical experts, to participate in discussions on various topics across different fields., in-depth sharing of academic achievements from the perspectives of the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, engineering technology, information technology, the interdisciplinary development of biotechnology and clinical medicine, integrated translation, and clinical application, contributing Chinese wisdom to promoting research progress and international cooperation in life science and technology-related fields.