October 23-24:The "2025 · 18th TIANS Science & Technology Forum" (hereinafter referred to as the Forum), jointly organized by the TIANS Science & Technology Forum Committee and TIANS Group, was grandly held at the Zhong Mao Haiyue Hotel in Shijiazhuang. Under the theme"Breakthrough&Transformation Co-creating a New Chapter for the Fine Chemicals and Synthetic Biology Industries", the Forum brought together nearly three hundred renowned experts, scholars, researchers, and corporate representatives from home and abroad for a feast of technological and innovative ideas.

The main forum was co-chaired by Professor Liu Qingling, Vice Chairman of the TIANS Science & Technology Forum Committee, Yingcai Professor and Ph.D. Supervisor at Tianjin University, and Dr. Zhang Hua, Vice Chairman of the TIANS Science & Technology Forum Committee and Chairman of Shanghai Hajiannuo Pharmaceutical Development Co., Ltd.

Opening Addresses: Charting the Blueprint for Industrial Innovation

Dr. Chen Ping, Vice Chairman of the TIANS Science & Technology Forum Committee and Chief Technology Officer of TIANS Group, delivered the welcome address. Dr. Chen stated that the fine chemicals and synthetic biology industries are currently in the "critical deep-water zone" of transitioning towards high-end, intelligent, and green development. With the theme "Breaking Through, Transforming," this Forum aims to gather top forces from industry, academia, and research to jointly explore the direction of industrial development, hoping to facilitate a collision of ideas that translates into practical momentum for growth.

Mr. Yue Min, Chairman of Shenzhen Yanyi New Material Co., Ltd., in his address stated that innovation must not stop at the laboratory; it must be transformed into industrial value. Sharing his experience in collaborating with TIANS to pave the path for technology industrialization, he expressed that the Forum serves as a collaborative accelerator, gathering the forces of industry, academia, and research to bridge the "last mile" of industrialization. He looked forward to it fostering more pragmatic cooperation to jointly promote the steady and long-term progress of the industry.

The Path to Breakthrough: Frontier Thinking and Practical Roadmaps

Dr. Li Yan, Director of the Materials & Chemicals Department at the Petroleum and Chemical Industry Planning Institute and Director of the Chemical New Materials Industry Research Center, delivered a keynote speech titled"Innovative Development of the Fine Chemicals Industry". He stated that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China's fine chemicals industry achieved a leap from "large quantity" to "qualitative change," with technological breakthroughs and import substitution in some key fields. The "15th Five-Year Plan" period is a critical stage for the industry to evolve from a large player to a strong one. The focus of competition is shifting from cost to technology. Enterprises should, aligning with national strategies and market demands, continuously innovate in areas such as high-performance resins, specialty materials, and green processes to propel products towards high-end and customized upgrades.

Professor Liu Dehua, Director of the Institute of Applied Chemistry, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, and Foreign Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, delivered a keynote speech titled"Opportunities and Challenges in Biomanufacturing". He stated that the shift from "mineral refining" to "bio-refining" marks a new milestone in human socio-economic development. It is a crucial link closely connecting agriculture and industry, a key lever for achieving carbon neutrality, and the material and energy foundation for transitioning the economy from unsustainable to sustainable development, with profound impacts on society, economy, technology, and culture. He specifically shared insights on bio-diesel and PDO bio-refining technologies and their industrialization progress.

Dr. Jerry Lin (Lin Jingxie), a renowned domestic electronic chemicals technology expert and CEO of Joinworld Applied Xingye Co., Ltd., delivered a keynote speech titled"Outlook on the Electronic Chemicals Industry". He noted that the global semiconductor materials market continues to grow, with China already occupying over half of the share. He emphasized that photoresists and supporting reagents are critical in the industry chain, with urgent technological demands particularly for anti-reflective coatings, etching solutions, and advanced packaging photoresists. However, challenges such as dependence on imported core raw materials and an incomplete verification system persist. With the development of advanced packaging and display technologies, trends are moving towards photoresists with higher film thickness, lower stress, and environmental friendliness.

Mr. Wu Shaohua, Director and Chief Designer of TIANS Group, and Appointed Expert of the China Exploration & Design Association Expert Pool, delivered a keynote speech titled"A New Engineering Technology Model Empowering New Technology Industrialization". He stated that facing industrialization bottlenecks such as low process maturity, difficulties in engineering scale-up, and a shortage of interdisciplinary talents under the development context of new quality productive forces, the empowering engineering technology model holds significant advantages. TIANS Group relies on its core principle of "Process as the Nucleus" and an operational new model integrating three platforms—the Technology Platform, the Business Division Platform, and the Project Command Platform—driven by a three-engine approach. This ensures successful project commissioning on the first attempt, helps clients efficiently achieve technology industrialization, and promotes the industry's transition towards being technology-driven and value-empowered.

Dr. Xia Jianye, Researcher and Ph.D. Supervisor at the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Director of the Intelligent Biomanufacturing Center, in his report"Intelligent Prediction and Dynamic Optimization of Fermentation Processes", pointed out that addressing bottlenecks in traditional fermentation processes in biomanufacturing, such as reliance on experience and lagging optimization, his team has developed intelligent solutions. By building a multi-source data fusion platform and innovatively developing a Transformer time-series prediction model incorporating domain knowledge, they have achieved accurate prediction of key metabolic parameters. This research signifies that fermentation processes are moving from an "experience-driven" to a new stage of "data and model intelligent-driven" development.

Mr. Su Zhenyu, Safety Expert appointed by the Zhejiang Provincial Emergency Management Department and Founder of Yunhan Technology, delivered a keynote speech titled"Strategies for Eliminating Catastrophic Accidents in Chemical Enterprises". He pointed out that the domestic chemical industry still faces a severe safety situation, with prevalent management failures in critical areas such as Process Hazard Analysis, work permits, and operating procedures. Corporate managers should regard preventing catastrophic accidents like fires, explosions, and fatalities as their core responsibility, systematically advancing risk prevention and control from technical, managerial, and cultural dimensions. By combining professional tools and methods, they should continuously drive enterprises towards the goal of zero casualties, ensuring plant integrity operation.

Professor Sun Fuchun, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence (CAAI), and Professor and Ph.D. Supervisor at the Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, delivered a keynote speech titled"The Transformation of Artificial Intelligence: Reshaping Industry, Society, and the Future". He noted that artificial intelligence has become a crucial means to drive industrial and social transformation. However, while enjoying the dividends of technology, we must also calmly address challenges such as changes in employment structure, data privacy, and algorithmic bias. In the future, AI will move towards human-centered intelligence augmentation through cross-border integration with fields like biology and materials, building an intelligent society characterized by human-machine integration, trustworthiness, and controllability, providing key support for addressing global challenges.

Industry-Academia-Research Dialogue: Exploring New Paths for Collaboration

During the Industry-Academia-Research Dialogue session, Dr. Chen Ping, Dr. Li Yan, Professor Liu Dehua, Dr. Xia Jianye, Mr. Su Zhenyu, and Dr. Ji Guanglin, Secretary-General of the Flow Battery Industry Alliance and Chairman of Star Chain Energy Storage (Sichuan) Technology Co., Ltd., engaged in forward-looking discussions on topics including the sustainable development of fine chemicals, key factors and future prospects for synthetic biology development, intelligent bio-fermentation, building a full lifecycle safety management system for process plants, and the advantages and development of the flow battery industry. This injected new intellectual momentum into high-quality industrial development.

The tide of innovation surges, questioning the path forward; technology leads the way, nurturing opportunities for transformation. In today's era of deep integration between technology and industry, innovation remains the constant theme. Looking ahead, let us join hands to translate cutting-edge technologies into tangible realities. Through safe, reliable, and intelligent industrialization practices, let us collectively open a new chapter of high-quality and sustainable development.

Scan the QR code below to view more highlights from the Forum.