Global health care startups in Beijing's Daxing for HICOOL 2025

Nearly 400 pharmaceutical, health care and medical device projects from around the world will compete this week at the Daxing Biomedicine Industrial Base in Beijing, as the medicine and health care track of the HICOOL 2025 Global Entrepreneurship Competition opened Tuesday in the city's Daxing district.

In recent years, Daxing district has actively developed its medicine and health care sector, attracting a growing pool of top talent from around the world.

HICOOL, a startup ecosystem established in Beijing in 2020 to support entrepreneurial talent, has emerged as a key platform for bringing in scientific and technological expertise, showcasing innovation and supporting regional growth. 

Several outstanding projects and teams have set up operations in Daxing, injecting fresh momentum into the district's innovation ecosystem.

One example is Liu Tongri, founder of Beijing Yisheng Biotechnology Co. and a Ph.D. in life sciences from the University of Oxford. "HICOOL's resource matchmaking, combined with Daxing district's strong industrial ecosystem and comprehensive talent services, has provided us with solid support," Liu said.

Introduced to Daxing through HICOOL, Liu returned to China to establish Yisheng Bio, where he has led a team working to solve the global challenge of differentiating pancreatic islet cells from pluripotent stem cells.

In 2022, after winning an award at HICOOL, Liu established Beijing's first bonded R&D clean production line in the Beijing Daxing International Airport Economic Zone. Since then, the company's core pipeline has met international key performance standards.

During the competition, Daxing district will organize site visits for participating teams to scientific research platforms and industrial facilities within the industrial base, aiming to strengthen ties between technology and capital and accelerate the commercialization of innovative achievements.