From June 16th to 17th, the "2023 · 16th TIANS Technology Forum" (hereinafter referred to as the Forum), hosted by TIANS Group, was grandly held at Zhongmao Haiyue Hotel in Shijiazhuang. With the theme of "Tech the Future | Focusing on Biomanufacturing to Build an Innovation Loop", this forum saw more than 300 well-known experts and scholars, researchers, enterprise representatives and industry peers from home and abroad embark on a technological journey together with TIANS.

Scene of the 16th TIANS Technology Forum · 2023

The forum was co-chaired by Professor Liu Qingfen, Vice Chairman of the Organizing Committee of TIANS Technology Forum and Researcher of the Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Professor Liu Qingling, Vice Chairman of the Organizing Committee of TIANS Technology Forum and Professor of Tianjin University.

Hosts Liu Qingfen (left) and Liu Qingling (right) hosting the conference

Prologue: The Future Chapter of Science and Technology
Zhang Hua, Vice Chairman of the TIANS Technology Forum Organizing Committee and Chairman of Shanghai Desano Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd., and Song Xiaohui, Vice Chairman of the TIANS Technology Forum Organizing Committee, Director and Vice President of TIANS Group, delivered welcome speeches.
Zhang Hua stated that since its establishment 16 years ago, the TIANS Technology Forum has been committed to sharing cutting-edge knowledge, promoting the development of the industry with innovative strength, empowering industrial implementation with scientific and technological achievements, applying advanced technologies to enterprise practices, and building an innovation closed loop from "wisdom" to "manufacturing".

Zhang Hua delivered a welcome speech

Song Xiaohui stated that scientific and technological innovation is an extensive and long-term transformation. The TIANS Technology Forum, as an "growth point" for the industry, a "booster" for the industry, and a "circle of friends" for exchanging ideas, hopes to build a bridge between reality and the future.

Song Xiaohui delivered a welcome speech

Frontier Discourse: Discussing the Future with Innovation
At this forum, experts and scholars from top universities and well-known technical experts in the industry delivered keynote speeches on hot topics such as national advanced manufacturing policies, cutting-edge synthetic biology technologies, dual-carbon energy conservation and environmental protection, and continuous manufacturing technologies.
Mr. Zang Jiyuan, Deputy Director of the Manufacturing Research Office of the Strategic Consulting Center of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Deputy Secretary-General of the National Intelligent Manufacturing Expert Committee, gave a keynote speech titled "Promoting New Industrialization and Accelerating the Development of Advanced Manufacturing". He stated that China is currently moving from a large manufacturing country to a strong manufacturing country, and traditional manufacturing industries are also transforming and upgrading towards "intelligent manufacturing" and "green energy". It is necessary to continuously promote the construction of new industrialization. Among them, advanced manufacturing industries such as life and health, green energy, and new materials are new pillars and new tracks of the future economy, and will form new growth engines for China's economy.

Zang Ji delivered a keynote speech titled "Promoting New-Type Industrialization and Accelerating the Development of Advanced Manufacturing Industry"

Professor Yuan Qipeng, Director of the Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering and Distinguished Professor of the Changjiang Scholars Program under the Ministry of Education, gave a keynote speech titled "Production of Pharmaceutical and Chemicals by Synthetic Biology". He first stated that synthetic biology has already become the core technology of green bio-manufacturing. Then, he explained the current development status of high-efficiency cell factories through examples of the biosynthesis of dencichine and paracetamol, and also elaborated on various approaches to enhance the synthesis capacity of cell factories through intelligent regulation. Finally, Professor Yuan Qipeng helped everyone gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between cell growth and production through examples of industrial applications such as the arbutin production line and the 5-hydroxytryptophan production line.

Yuan Qipeng delivered a keynote speech on "Production of Pharmaceutical Chemicals by Synthetic Biology"

Mr. Yao Zhenyong, Chief Engineer of the Process Technology Center of TIANS Group and expert of the IPPM China Pharmaceutical Engineering Technology Expert Committee, gave a keynote speech on "Full-Process Automated Fermentation Process Technology". He stated that after years of rapid development, fermentation engineering has expanded from traditional antibiotics and food to many high-tech fields such as medicine, energy, and materials, and proposed that full-process automated fermentation process technology and energy-saving equipment will be the focus of future development. Afterwards, Yao Zhenyong elaborated on the realization path of fermentation process automation from multiple dimensions of people, machines, materials, methods, and environment, and took TIANS's intelligent instantaneous continuous sterilization equipment as a sample to provide guests with new ideas for fermentation energy conservation.

Yao Zhenyong delivered a keynote speech on "Full-Process Automated Fermentation Process Technology"

Associate Professor Zhang Jisong from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Tsinghua University, who is also a young committee member of the Microchemical Technology Professional Committee of the Chinese Chemical Society, gave a keynote speech titled "Continuous Hydrogenation Technology in Microreactors for the Continuous Synthesis of Pharmaceutical Intermediates". He stated that microreactor hydrogenation using microchemical technology can provide higher mass transfer performance, and the recovery and reuse of catalysts as well as the purification of products are more convenient. This greatly improves production efficiency, reduces production risks and equipment investment, and has high industrial application value. It is one of the key development directions in the field of pharmaceutical and chemical engineering in the future.

Zhang Jisong gave a keynote speech titled "Continuous Synthesis of Pharmaceutical Intermediates Using Microreactor Continuous Hydrogenation Technology"

Professor Xu Ke, a doctoral supervisor from the School of the Environment at Nanjing University, delivered a keynote speech entitled "Thoughts on Technological Innovation in Industrial Wastewater Treatment Under the Background of 'Dual Carbon'". He first pointed out that the hotspots in the development of the industrial water treatment industry have gradually evolved from resource utilization, energization, and cleaning to intelligentization, low-carbonization, and health-orientation. At the same time, wastewater treatment technologies are also continuously developing and innovating. Afterwards, Mr. Xu Ke systematically summarized the standard system for synergistic efficiency in water treatment for carbon reduction and pollution reduction from multiple aspects such as technology, management, engineering, materials, and equipment, providing a clear path for building a low-carbon and green future.

Xu Ke delivered a keynote speech titled "Thoughts on Technological Innovation in Industrial Wastewater Treatment under the 'Dual Carbon' Background"

Teacher Liu Ying, an engineer from the Intelligent Manufacturing Research Department of the Institute of Informatization and Industrialization Integration, China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, and a core compiler of the "Implementation Plan for Intelligent Manufacturing Pilot and Demonstration Actions", gave a keynote speech titled "Intelligent Manufacturing Application Practice and Industrial Development". He stated that intelligent manufacturing has currently basically covered all value chain-related businesses of manufacturing enterprises, and all links from early factory construction, product production to mid-term quality, safety control, energy management, as well as later supply chain management and after-sales service are undergoing comprehensive intelligent and digital upgrades. At the same time, he combined the application of systems such as MES, ERP and CRM in smart factories in the pharmaceutical industry, and through data analysis, pointed out that smart factories can significantly reduce energy consumption levels and operating costs for enterprises, and improve production efficiency.

Liu Ying delivered a keynote speech titled "Practical Applications of Intelligent Manufacturing and Industrial Development"

Industry-University-Research Dialogue: Pooling Wisdom to Write a New Chapter
To accelerate the integration of science and technology with production practices, boost enterprise transformation and sustainable industrial development, during the industry-university-research dialogue session, two speakers, Zhang Jisong and Yao Zhenyong, along with Tang Lida, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chief Scientist of Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research, Yang Shihui, Chairman of Wuhan Ruijiakang Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Shen Juping, Deputy General Manager of Suzhou Kintor Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and Zhang Hua, Chairman of Shanghai Desano Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd., conducted a forward-looking dialogue on the theme of "Focusing on Biomanufacturing, Building an Innovation Closed Loop". The dialogue covered aspects such as the development trend of domestic new biopharmaceutical technologies; the application of synthetic biology and continuous reaction technology in the pharmaceutical industry; the comparison between China's GMP and international regulations; the reform of new technologies for traditional chemical APIs, and the implementation and application of industrial technologies. This enabled the participating guests to find many new opportunities for industrial development and benefit a lot.

Industry-University-Research Dialogue (from left to right: Wang Xuegong, Tang Lida, Yang Shihui, Shen Juping, Zhang Jisong, Zhang Hua, Yao Zhenyong)

Economic Insights: Grasping the Pulse of the Times
The healthy development of enterprises and the development trend of industries are closely related to the national economic pattern. At the end of the forum, Mr. Liu Shengjun, a renowned Chinese economist, chief expert of the Guoshi Financial Reform Think Tank, and chief economist of TIANS Group, delivered a keynote speech entitled "China's Economy after the 20th National Congress: Seizing the Future Amid Uncertainties". Mr. Liu Shengjun pointed out that in the face of various uncertainties in the VUCA era, standing at the crossroads of human history, we need two new methodologies: the grand historical perspective and political economy. Afterwards, he conducted a systematic analysis ranging from the world pattern to China's development, from the political system to economic development, and from technological innovation to enterprise development. He stated that looking to the future, we should have confidence in China's economy, always adhere to the principle that enterprises are the source of innovation, and finally have the ambition to expand the pattern in the new economic cycle that has already arrived.

Liu Shengjun delivered a keynote speech titled "China's Economy After the 20th National Congress: Seizing the Future Amid Uncertainties"

Expert Annual Conference: Exploring Industry Opportunities
As an important part of the TIANS Technology Forum, the Annual Conference of Experts of the TIANS Technology Committee was successfully held on the afternoon of June 16. It gathered 35 experts and scholars from the fields of synthetic biology, medicine, new energy, energy conservation and environmental protection at home and abroad to discuss key and difficult technical issues and seek new opportunities for industry development.

Group photo of the 2023 Annual Conference of Experts of TIANS Technology Committee as a memento

A splendid conclusion for a better start
At the closing ceremony of the forum, Zhang Lizhi, Vice Chairman of TIANS Group, delivered a closing speech. He stated that biomanufacturing will promote the transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing industry and the emergence of new business forms, and industrial production will thus undergo earth-shaking changes. He hopes to work with colleagues in the industry to empower enterprise development with new technologies and promote industrial transformation.

Zhang Lizhi delivers a dinner speech

At this forum, we have felt the vigorous development of biotechnology and the cutting-edge wave set off by digitalization and intelligentization. In the future, let us open the door to a more advanced, greener and smarter world, and let the light of innovation illuminate everything in the world.