4.5 Government Initiatives to Enhance China Bioeconomy
14th Five‐Year Plan for Bioeconomy Development
China’s leading economic authorities, including the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), various ministries, academic and industry experts, as well as public and private sector collaborators, have introduced a new strategic plan for the 14th Five-Year Plan period spanning from 2021 to 2025. This comprehensive initiative is designed to promote the bioeconomy, with a primary goal of propelling high-quality growth within this sector. It specifically targets the fulfillment of domestic healthcare needs, stimulating economic expansion, strengthening biosecurity measures, and modernizing governance practices. In alignment with the broader objectives of the 14th Five-Year Plan, this strategic initiative places significant emphasis on the convergence of biotechnology and information technology. Furthermore, it seeks to drive the development of key industries such as biomedicine, biological breeding, biomaterials, and bioenergy.The bioeconomy, which involves the sustainable utilization of biological resources across various sectors such as medicine, healthcare, agriculture, forestry, and more, is set to become a vital driver of high-quality development by 2025. The plan envisions a steady increase in the bioeconomy’s contribution to GDP, along with a significant rise in the number of enterprises with substantial annual revenues (Sparke et al., 2023). While the exact percentage increase is not specified , this goal implies that the bioeconomy sector is expected to play a progressively more significant role in the overall national economy during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25).
China aims to be a global leader in the bioeconomy by 2035. Wang Xiang, from the NDRC, noted the progress made in the bioeconomy’s innovative development and the plan’s potential to foster further innovation and high-quality growth. The country has already seen a significant presence of biotech companies on its science and technology innovation board, and pharmaceutical companies have exhibited substantial investment in research and development. China will support innovation and quicken the pace of advancement in the fields of bioinformatics, bio agriculture, bioenergy, healthcare, and biological environmental protection under the plan. It will also enhance risk management for biosecurity and foster an atmosphere that is favorable to innovation in the bioeconomy. Experts stress how vital biotechnology is to advancing social and economic advancement. The plan is viewed as a way to advance new growth drivers, enhance the standard of living, and embrace the most recent scientific, technological, and industrial revolutions. Particular attention is drawn to the biomedicine industry’s contribution to both economic stability and pandemic containment. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology intends to support small and medium-sized businesses, modernize the biomedicine sector, improve the innovation ecosystem, and encourage intelligent and environmentally friendly development within the pharmaceutical sector.
Figure 1: 14TH Five-year plan for bio economy development (Zhang et al., 2022)
Thoughts on implementation of the Plan
The federal government is actively promoting the fusion of biotechnology and IT. Supporting research, development, and innovation at the nexus of these fields is necessary for this. Implementation strategies might support research initiatives, promote collaboration between tech and biotech businesses, and reward innovation.
The plan places special emphasis on the development of the bio economy’s biomedicine, biological breeding, biomaterials, and bioenergy fields. The government may offer financial incentives, regulatory support, and infrastructure development for companies operating in these fields to put this into action.
Increasing the bio economy’s share of China’s GDP steadily is one of the plan’s objectives. Through incentives and calculated investments, the government will probably keep an eye on and support the expansion of bio-based industries.
The government will enact laws and provide incentives to promote research and development (R&D) in the fields of bioinformatics, bio agriculture, bioenergy, biological environmental protection, and healthcare. To do this, a supportive environment for research, development, and commercialization must be established.
The strategy recognizes the significance of biosecurity. The government will probably improve biosecurity risk management, possibly with rules and procedures to reduce potential dangers related to biotechnology and bio-based industries.
The government intends to support SMEs that operate in specialized industries in order to foster smart, environmentally friendly development in the pharmaceutical sector and boost innovation. Financial assistance, technical support, and capacity-building initiatives are a few examples of this support.
The sector of biomedicine will be modernized under the direction of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. This entails creating an ecosystem for innovation, enhancing value and supply chains, and boosting the industry’s overall competitiveness.