Government officials and biopharma industry experts from China and Belgium held a meeting in Shanghai on Thursday to discuss ways of cooperating and promoting development in the field.

Themed "Driving Biopharma Innovation for Patients in China", the meeting was held during the China visit of a Belgian economic mission that was presided over by Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid, Princess of Belgium.

The Belgian delegates, pharmaceutical industry key opinion leaders and representatives from China's Ministry of Commerce and the Shanghai municipal government shared their insights into prominent industry topics such as brain diseases, aging society and the health of women and children at the exchange platform built by UCB, a global biopharmaceutical company based in Brussels, Belgium.

Willy Borsus, a senior official with Belgium's Walloon government, said that China's rising strength in innovation is "eye-catching" and that Belgium is known for its distinct advantages in innovative research and development, efficient industrialization and government incentive policies that drive biopharmaceutical development.

"We hope to work with the Chinese government through more frequent exchanges and intensive collaborations to take innovation in the biopharma industry to a new level," he said.

Yang Chao, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, said that the biopharma industry is one of the leading industries in the city and welcomes more R&D collaborations between Belgium and China.

During the meeting, UCB and JD Health, a domestic provider of internet plus healthcare, signed a strategic cooperation memorandum to find solutions related to the management of chronic diseases.