AstraZeneca and Yixing Launch Inaugural Medical and Elderly Care Industry Collaboration Conference to Advance Innovation Ecosystem

Supported by the “Healthy China” initiative and Wuxi’s strategic push to vigorously develop its life and health industry, Yixing—ranked among the top ten of China’s Top 100 Counties—has demonstrated strong momentum. By integrating core industrial resources across government, academia, research, industry, healthcare, and investment, Yixing has not only made breakthroughs in three key sectors—medical devices, biological products, and chemical pharmaceuticals—but also targeted three distinctive areas: health foods, modern traditional Chinese medicine, and wellness and medical care, thereby establishing a competitive advantage through differentiated positioning. The scale of Yixing’s life and health industry is projected to reach RMB 20 billion by the end of 2024.

The annual China Ceramics Capital (Yixing) Golden Autumn Economic and Trade Fair (hereinafter referred to as the “Autumn Fair”) serves as a vital window for Yixing to expand its opening-up and a key link fostering exchanges and cooperation. To further promote the development of the life and health industry, leveraging the opportunity presented by the Autumn Fair,Yixing Joins Hands with AstraZeneca to LaunchThe 1st Yixing Conference on the Coordinated Development of the Medical and Elderly Care Industries, aiming to leverage the influence of leading enterprises such as AstraZeneca to attract and cultivate a clustered ecosystem of medical and elderly care industries, drive the development of the biopharmaceutical sector, and contribute to advancing the Healthy China initiative. This conference will be held onOctober 18 in Yixing, WuxiHosted.

As one of the organizers of this conference, AstraZeneca is committed to building a comprehensive industrial interaction platform that integrates industry research, in-depth exchange, and innovative models of medical and elderly care. The company has invited over 100 academic experts, clinical leaders, executives from high-growth companies, technology pioneers, and professional investors from across China in the fields of medical and elderly care and chronic disease management to attend. By deeply linking core resources from government, industry, academia, research, healthcare, and investment sectors, AstraZeneca aims to establish Yixing as a hub for the medical and elderly care industry while simultaneously expanding ecosystem collaborations.

To provide attendees with insights into emerging trends and opportunities in the healthcare and elderly care industry, this conference centers on “integrated medical and elderly care” and expands outward from this core theme. It aims to comprehensively showcase Yixing’s solid foundation and resource advantages in the sector, share innovative practices of integrated medical and elderly care under the Healthy China strategy, and ensure that participating guests gain maximum value from the event.

By mapping out industrial clusters and precisely targeting multiple dimensions—including the innovation chain, factor chain, talent chain, and service chain—Yixing leverages its local industrial foundation and ecological endowments to build a high-efficiency, energy-converging industrial ecosystem. At this conference,Relevant government departments will provide an in-depth interpretation of the latest industrial policies for the life and health sector,Promoting Yixing's Advantages in the Life and Health Industry,Conveying Development Signals to the Industry and Clarifying Support Directions。

Centering on its standout feature of high-end health and wellness, Yixing has extended its life health industry into specialized sectors such as medical devices and foods for special medical purposes. AstraZeneca will also unveil multiple collaborative achievements at the conference.

Against the macro backdrop of the “Healthy China 2030” Planning Outline, some innovators have begun to break free from rigid thinking constraints and creatively integrate two of today’s most pressing thematic priorities—“integration of medical care and elderly care” and “chronic disease management”—thereby pioneering an innovative model for integrated medical and elderly care under a multi-industry convergence framework.

“Chapter One” emphasizes “scientific development,” exploring the integration of medical and elderly care under the Healthy China strategy: hospital presidents, renowned experts from research institutes, and association chairs from across China willAn Analysis of the Current Development of Primary Care General Practice, the Practice of Integrated Medical and Elderly Care for Chronic Diseases Represented by the "Three Highs" and Respiratory Diseases at the Primary Level, and the Current Opportunities and Challenges in Smart Health and Elderly Care。

“Chapter Two” focuses on “Practical Development,” seeking innovative models for chronic disease management at the grassroots level: managers from leading domestic technology companies willSharing the Empowering Value of AI Technology and Smart Pharmacies in Chronic Disease Management Servicesetc.

“Chapter Three” focuses on “Collaborative Development,” proposing to jointly build an ecosystem that drives the future of innovation in the medical and elderly care industry: multiple service entities from the medical and elderly care industry and the chronic disease management ecosystem will revolve around“Empowering the New Future of the Medical and Elderly Care Industry by Integrating Cross-Boundary Ecosystem Forces”Engage in an industry dialogue on this topic.

This conference focuses on the collaborative value within the healthcare and elderly care industry ecosystem, connecting stakeholders across the upstream, midstream, and downstream segments of the industry.Specially crafted the highly innovative product showcase area, “Innovation Industry Bazaar”. The organizers selected 20 representative innovative products and solutions in the medical and elderly care industries based on criteria such as technological breakthroughs, leadership, and product maturity, showcasing China’s innovation strength through a centralized exhibition during the conference.

Over its 30-plus years in China, AstraZeneca has actively served as a bridge for multinational enterprises, promoting the integration of Chinese and Western approaches through R&D, investment, and ecosystem development. By leveraging China’s R&D capabilities to lead global innovation, empowering Chinese innovative enterprises’ global expansion through multi-dimensional industrial fund investments, and building an international health innovation ecosystem, AstraZeneca facilitates the global flow of excellent integrated diagnostic and therapeutic solutions, injecting vitality into the globalization of China’s healthcare industry.

Taking ecosystem development as an example, AstraZeneca has built a diversified international health innovation ecosystem driven by the “three pillars”—the China Smart Healthcare Innovation Center, the International Life Science Innovation Park, and the AstraZeneca CICC Medical Industry Fund. By focusing on vertical disease areas, it explores integrated diagnostic and therapeutic solutions and supports the establishment of a more comprehensive disease diagnosis and treatment system through diverse collaborations.

AstraZeneca has always prioritized localization, actively embracing the ever-evolving Chinese market and consistently fulfilling its long-term commitment to “Rooted in China, Serving China, Benefiting the World.” Its deep involvement in the development of Yixing’s life and health industry serves as a prime example.

Although Yixing’s life and health industry started late, it has leveraged the city’s ecological and cultural advantages, pooling municipal resources to cultivate and develop the sector into a “trump card” for fostering new quality productive forces and achieving high-quality development in Yixing. Currently, Yixing has established three specialized industrial parks and nearly 500,000 square meters of innovation carriers, attracting over 400 distinguished local elites and more than 1,000 high-level professionals. The city has forged comprehensive collaborations with 42 universities and research institutes, mobilized nearly RMB 5 billion in industrial funds, and introduced nearly 80 projects with a total investment exceeding RMB 50 billion, resulting in a fourfold increase in industrial scale over three years.

In 2024 alone, AstraZeneca facilitated significant progress in Yixing’s life and health industry. Key achievements include the launch of the Xushe International Life Science Park (Shanghai) Innovation Center, which promoted the exchange of industrial resources through diverse activities and helped Yixing build a robust life and health industry ecosystem; assistance in establishing “Jiangsu Huiyi Tianxia,” an internet-based pharmaceutical distribution platform, to deepen engagement in the primary healthcare market; and the introduction of seven innovative enterprises that fostered integration among government, industry, academia, research, and application, making notable contributions to local employment, public welfare initiatives, and regional tax revenue. Additionally, AstraZeneca hosted multiple high-level conferences on life and health, actively inviting relevant enterprises to join the ecosystem.

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca places great emphasis on enhancing primary healthcare services. It continues to collaborate with the Yixing Health Commission on smart chronic disease management at the grassroots level, launching pilot projects such as AI-driven follow-up care and pulmonary function screening. These initiatives will be rolled out across Yixing in the future, supporting the rapid development of Yixing’s life and health industry.

AstraZeneca aims to leverage its global resource advantages and deep insights into the Chinese local market to continuously gather global intellectual capital, collaborate with more innovative ecosystem resources, and engage in joint research and co-creation of innovative models and outcomes in therapeutic areas including oncology, respiratory, gastrointestinal, metabolism, and cardiovascular diseases.

In light of this, AstraZeneca sincerely invites partners from all sectors to actively join in building the health innovation ecosystem for China’s life and health industry. You are welcome to scan the QR code below to register for the event. We look forward to seeing you on October 18 in Yixing, Wuxi.

 (Welcome to scan the QR code and fill out the registration form)

Conference Time: 1:30–5:50 PM, Friday, October 18, 2024

Venue: Yixing Hall, 3rd Floor, Taodu Peninsula Hotel, Yixing, Jiangsu (No. 888 Jiefang East Road, Yixing City, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province)