Deals signed and projects underway in Guangzhou Development District

A projects signing and groundbreaking ceremony was held in Guangzhou Development District on Wednesday, making way for significant developments in areas such as the headquarters economy, biomedicine and new-generation information technology.

The move came as part of the district's efforts to carry out the overall development plan for the China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City for 2020-35, which was approved by the State Council in August 2020.

Of the projects, 54 have begun construction with a total investment of 101.7 billion yuan ($15.76 billion), and 66 were newly signed on the day worth 113.7 billion yuan.

The projects are expected to generate about 143.3 billion yuan in annual revenue when they reach designed capacity.

Of the projects signed, 11 are involved in the biomedical industry.

One of them is the WestVac vaccine research and development and production project. A team headed by Wei Yuquan, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy at Sichuan University, will use internationally advanced technology platforms to help develop and make a variety of vaccine products.

Guangzhou Development District is a key hub of China's biopharmaceutical industry, with more than 3,000 related companies.

Another vaccine production center in the district is being built by Guangzhou Laboratory and Guangzhou High-tech Investment Group. It is planned to cover an area of 33,000 square meters and will promote cooperation between the lab and vaccine manufacturers in the district to make breakthroughs in COVID-19 vaccine R&D.

With a planned investment of 1 billion yuan, the center will focus on nucleic acid vaccines, recombinant vaccines, virus-like particle vaccines and neutralizing antibodies. It will be capable of providing 1 billion to 1.2 billion doses annually, according to district officials.

Lonza, another biomedical company in the development district, is expanding its production lines for biological drugs and conducting clinical trials. The expansion project is scheduled to finish construction in 2022 and will support clients in clinical trials and commercialized development and production for therapeutic medicines.

Biopharmaceutical company Akeso is setting up its Asia-Pacific clinical research and operation headquarters in the district and developing a clinical R&D center and a transnational medicine center.

Eight commercial cryptography projects were also signed with an investment totaling about 1 billion yuan. Other projects that were signed focus on modern services, software development and clean energy.

Guangzhou Development District aims to have its fixed-asset investment exceed 1 trillion yuan in the next five years, and in order to do so, is enhancing cooperation with the Guangdong branch of China Development Bank.

The district's administrative committee and CDB signed a cooperation agreement to financially support the technological innovation and high-quality development of advanced manufacturing at the event. A total of 3.7 billion yuan in loans was agreed.

The agreement will provide financial support worth more than 100 billion yuan to 14 key parks and projects in the district.

Yan Qingshan, vice-president of the bank branch, said: "Guangzhou Development District is an important functional area where the bank can support Guangzhou's development."

He said he hopes the branch will take the opportunity to offer all-around services for the construction of major infrastructure, parks and also scientific, technological and industrial innovation platforms in the district.

The event also saw projects launched by national institutes perform their groundbreaking ceremonies and start their construction, including a materials research institute that was jointly set up by the district's administrative committee and the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry at CAS.

It aims to develop an advanced tire R&D and production platform focusing on aviation tire dynamics and a platform for the R&D of semiconductor chip materials.

Other projects that got underway include several in the key economic belt around the district's Jiulong Lake. It is aimed for the belt to become an international office environment attracting creative professionals and unicorn companies－startups valued at more than $1 billion.

Its international business center will boast advanced facilities and features commercial, residential, retail and leisure areas.

Over the past year, the China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, which is located in the development district, saw 91 projects start construction and 75 projects completed and put into trial operation.

Zhou Yawei, director-general of Guangzhou Development District's administrative committee, said that since the approval of its 2020-35 overall development plan, the knowledge city has made substantial progress in development.

The knowledge city will further be enhanced and develop into a globally influential knowledge center committed to the Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Zhou said.