Wuxi International Life Science Innovation Campus (I·Campus), an innovation incubation platform co-built by the Wuxi municipal government, Wuxi Hi-tech District and AstraZeneca, participated in the third China International Import Expo (CIIE) for the second consecutive year. Through this year's CIIE, I·Campus signed up 12 new innovative companies from home and abroad, secured 2 innovative partnerships with resident companies, and unveiled several significant inaugurations and signing ceremonies.

The economy today is still bearing the impact caused by COVID-19, and many industries are scrambling to transform themselves, spawning brand new business models. Supported by Wuxi Municipal Government and Wuxi Hi-tech District, I·Campus opened in September 2019 and entered into full business operation in April 2020. Despite the pandemic, I·Campus has been able to maintain close ties with domestic and foreign partners, through which it managed to introduce innovative forces into China and empower the growth of its resident companies. 

For this year's CIIE, Wuxi Government, AstraZeneca, Tigermed, CICC Capital and other companies jointly released the plan of "Wuxi International Health Investment and Innovation Summit", which will help expand the international influence of Wuxi biomedical industry. I·Campus itself entered strategic cooperation with BioVenture Hub from Sweden on medical innovation, facilitating further industrial integration and development of healthcare innovation. Mr. Ibrahim Baylan, Minister for Business, Industry and Innovation of Sweden, delivered an speech online, showing his wishes and support for building an international innovation ecosystem.

Additionally, Wuxi Biomedical Industry Association and The CEIBS Alumni Healthcare Industry Association signed to settle in I·Campus to empower the industrial ecosystem. Wuxi Municipal Bureau of Healthcare and Security as well as Management Committee of Wuxi Hi-tech District signed a strategic framework agreement to establish a medical bidding and procurement workstation in I·Campus, offering more policy and resource support for the incubation of new medicines, medical equipment and healthcare solutions. The CCHRPP Wuxi Medical Research and Certification Center was also inaugurated at the event, providing further support for the innovative medical ecosystem covering R&D to industrialization within I·Campus. An external liaison office, the Wuxi Foreign Affairs Office Service Center, was also inaugurated to help attract more outstanding talent, offer foreign affairs advisory to accelerate the internationalization of I·Campus and to further introduce innovative projects from overseas. The third CIIE also saw the unveiling of the Wuxi-Europe Life Science Innovation Industrial Campus, which will broaden international cooperation and gather global innovative forces to China. Based on the AstraZeneca's innovation project of iClinic, Zhenfu and Shenzhi, which are resident companies in Wuxi and Hangzhou innovation Campus, signed an agreement at the event, aiming to further advance screening service to 1 million people in the coming year.

Through this year's CIIE, I·Campus continues to welcome domestic and foreign innovative forces, including UST, a US-based high-tech biotech company dedicated to gene sequencing platform development; Bestudy, a leading domestic institution dedicated to clinical R&D of innovative drugs; LinkDoc, a domestic unicorn in big data and AI; Biortus, a CRO firm that develops advanced gene, protein, and cryo-electron microscope structures; Liangzhun Industrial Co., a firm boasting chip biometric technology and possessing nearly 100 world-leading technology patents; Hainan Medical Science and Technology Co., a company dedicated to advances in internet healthcare; Leantech, which specializes in smart healthcare related products and solutions; CardioCloud, devoted in intelligent devices and integrated solutions development in the cardiovascular field; Zeroad, the first Chinese company committed to developing a data platform featuring an enhanced doctor-patient experience; MiDIVI, a high-tech medical business devoted to smart diagnosis and treatment, and total solutions for oncology surgery; Ethicall, the developer of an intelligent recommendation system that responds efficiently to doctor requests while ensuring compliance; and Zhenfu, a firm devoted to building online device sales management platforms. These innovative newcomers are engaged in multiple vanguard fields of healthcare, including innovative drugs R&D, gene sequencing, wearable devices, big data, internet hospital, pushing the boundaries of innovation throughout the healthcare ecosystem.

Through its role as a powerful enabling platform and leveraging its platform resources, resident companies won milestone achievement since I·Campus' official opening last year: CHIC Health, a medical technology company specializing in chronic respiratory diseases, has extended the use of its all-in-one respiratory risk screening devices to more than 470 hospitals, and got investment from first-line USD funds; Teddy Lab Services, which joined I·Campus this April, opened its Wuxi Teddy Lab Services Med Lab just two months later, and became a qualified medical testing laboratory in early August. Additionally, Teddy Lab and AstraZeneca signed a cooperation agreement on the joint development and commercialization of companion diagnostics during this year's CIIE. I·Campus is also pushing for increased and deeper cross-sector cooperation for its resident companies. Tumor genetic testing company Sanomics is a case in point, having entered cooperation with Tencent this July to co-develop an online tumor MDT platform. Furthermore, AstraZeneca's booth at the 3rd CIIE showcased the latest innovative offerings from multiple resident companies in I·Campus, including Teddy Lab Services, MiDIVI, LinkDoc, Liangzhun, Omron Healthcare, CHIC Health, Sanomics, UST, Tricog, and HCmed Innovations.

Addressing I·Campus' presence at the CIIE, Leon Wang, AstraZeneca's Executive Vice President, International and China President, says, "The CIIE provides an excellent platform for empowering bilateral innovation exchange and cooperation between domestic and foreign partners. In just one year, I·Campus has signed up more than 30 leading firms from home and abroad and welcomed seven international strategic partners, all thanks to government-enterprise cooperation and the efforts of other stakeholders. We will continue to honor our commitment and renew our efforts to offer competitive resources and industry expertise. We are seeking more partners to build a global healthcare innovation ecosystem characterized by openness, collaboration, and mutual benefits, seeking to grow our own business while contributing to the strengthening of China's healthcare innovation capability and benefiting patients in China and beyond."