New Sino-US life science park launched

As Chinese President Xi Jinping and US counterpart Barack Obama will hold this week their first major meeting since Xi became president of China in March, China and Silicon Valley continue to grow more closely tied than ever.

On Saturday, Hanhai Investment Management Group, the largest US-Chinese technology incubator in Silicon Valley, launched Hanhai Zibo Life Science Park, the first US China Life Science Park, in Burlingame, California.

China's deputy consul general in San Francisco Song Ru'an; City of Burlingame Vice-mayor Michael Brownrigg; senator of San Jose City Zhu Gansheng, and officials from Hanhai Investment Management Group and Zibo National New and High-Tech Industrial Park, along with more than 300 guests attended the Saturday event.

The 10,500-square-meter and $24 million Life Science Park was co-founded by Hanhai Investment and Zibo National New and High-Tech Industrial Park as well as six companies at Zibo National New and High Tech Industrial Park.

"The Life Science Park aims to build an international bio-pharmaceutical science and technology collaboration platform for Chinese and US partners and to become an important bridge and link in bio-science advancement between China and the US," said Wang Hanguang, chairman of Beijing Hanhai Investment Management Group.

Hanhai officially signed the contract to buy an 80,000-square-foot office building in San Jose, California, a signing witnessed by then-Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping and US Vice-President Joe Biden during the China-US Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum in February 2012. It established its first high-tech incubator in Silicon Valley-Hanhai Park in June 2012.

"Our aim was to establish three science and technology parks in Silicon Valley in five years," Wang said. "Now, in less than three years, we have two parks. It seems it will be no problem to achieve our goal."

Wang is also optimistic about the future development of the newly established life science park. "This is the first Chinese life science park in Silicon Valley funded by National High-Tech Industrial Park and Enterprises," he said. "It has opened a new era of going global for us."

Zibo National New and High-Tech Industrial Park is one of several Chinese industrial parks approved by the State Council in 1992.

Since then, six professional incubators have been constructed in the park, including facilities dedicated to electronic information, bio-pharmaceuticals, electronic instruments and precision manufacturing. The Electronic Information Innovation Park and the Bio-Pharmaceutical Innovation Park are state level incubators.

"The Hanhai-Zibo Life Science Park will take advantage of the strengths of Silicon Valley, such as local talent and technology in bio-pharmaceutical development, building a new innovation and entrepreneurship model of international incubators and domestic accelerator and commercialization," said Zhuang Ming, vice-mayor of Zibo and director of Administrative Committee of Zibo National New and Hi-Tech Industrial Park.

The Hanhai Zibo Life Science Park is located in the center of Burlingame, a city in San Mateo County, California. The city is not well known by most Chinese, but it has historical roots in China.

According to Burlingame's Vice-mayor Michael Brownrigg, the city is named after diplomat Anson Burlingame, who was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to be the US Minister to the Qing Empire in 1861. Over the next six years, Burlingame developed such a strong relationship with the Qing government that in 1867 he was asked to lead a Chinese diplomatic mission to the US and other Western countries.

"We think this is very special moment to come full circle and welcome Hanhai Zibo Life Science Park here," Brownrigg said, adding that the city was a very good spot for the high-tech park to pick.

"Burlingame is very close to the design talent and the financial talent of San Francisco, as well as close to the engineering talent and software talent of San Jose and Santa Clara," he said. "We also happen to be very close to worldwide talent from San Francisco airport."

Brownrigg said his career has been focused on young companies that grow and bring new products, new services, more energy, which, he said, are all a huge plus to whatever city lucky enough to have an incubator like the Hanhai-Zibo Life Science Park.

While the issues being addressed by this research center, such as cancer, aging or hypertension, are global problems that no one company or country can solve, Brownrigg is very optimistic about the park's future.

"These are problems that take the collaboration of great nations like the US and China working together to solve. They won't be easy, there will be many failures along the way," he said. "But that's why we applaud a group like Hanhai, who has the ambition to tackle such important global issues.