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4New Research Centers More than 200 research facilities and 50 different colleges and universities perform biotechnology and related research in China. During the past 5 years, the Chinese government has inaugurated two new types of research centers to promote the development and commercialization of this field. The first are the biotechnology bases at Jiangmen and Shanghai, which are meant to bring research results to the production stage. The second are the key laboratories, which provide research training for scientists from throughout China. BIOTECHNOLOGY BASES The Jiangmen Single Cell Protein Biotechnology Base is located about 100 kilometers from Guangzhou in Guangdong Province. At present, the base is located on 200,000 square meters of land containingâall at various stages of completionâan office building, worker housing, a 5,000-squaremeter laboratory building, a pilot plant, the single-cell protein plant, a tool factory, and a power plant. Plans are to have 400 employees when construction is completed in 1989 or 1990. The initial investment by SSTC was 60 million yuan, but the whole idea has fallen out of favor with Chinese administrators in the past 2 years, and the base itself will have to raise the additional 20 million yuan needed for completion. The original concept for the base was to ferment molasses (a by-product of the large sugar industry in Guangdong Province) into single-cell feed protein. Because of economic reform policies, however, nearby counties are no longer required to sell their molasses to the base, resulting in a shortage of raw supplies. Instead, the NEW RESEARCH CENTERS 15
base is surviving on sales of low technology products (e.g., shrimp feed and meat tenderizer) and electricity from its power plant. The Shanghai Center of Biotechnology is located in an industrial sector of southwest Shanghai and will eventually contain 30,000 square meters of buildings, including a guest house, laboratory building, pilot plant, library, and offices. The Shanghai center is a national project administered by CAS and supported by 57 million yuan from the State Planning Commission. It is hoped that the center will represent a new type of research institute in China, one which runs the gamut from laboratory research to pilot plant production. Project areas include genetic engineering and cell, enzyme, and fermentation technologies. At present, the center employs 200 people located at a biochemical factory and various CAS research institutes. They are attempting to develop processing techniques for products such as human insulin, human growth factor, and epidermal growth factor, but a definite product has not been identified as of this writing. As shown in Table 1B, construction of the Jiangmen and Shanghai bases has consumed a sizable fraction of China's biotechnology funds. Both bases are largeâprobably larger than any comparable facility in the United States, even those built by major pharmaceutical and chemical companies. However, the construction quality at both sites appears to be low. Moreover, both have already or are in the process of purchasing large quantities of expensive fermentation equipment without knowing exactly what will be produced. It is unlikely that either base will produce a major product within the next 5 years, by which time much of this equipment will be outdated and will have suffered from the neglect that accompanies idleness. Over time, questionable construction standards and the lack of clear production planning will frame judgment of the utility of this investment strategy. KEY LABORATORIES The key laboratories represent the second new type of biotechnology center. To date, the State Planning Commission and SSTC have funded 11 such laboratories, each at an average cost of 5 million yuan. An additional one-half million yuan per year is provided by CAS to each of its laboratories for maintenance, whereas laboratories at universities and other institutes are expected to raise their own operating expenses. The laboratories are open to investigators from outside institutions and are intended to serve as national training centers. In general, these key laboratories have been established at the most advanced biotechnology research centers in China: Peking University, Fudan University, Beijing Institute of Virology, Beijing Institute of Biophysics, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology, and Shanghai Institute of Cell Biology. The value of the key laboratories as training centers is dubious since, in general, visiting scientists from distant provinces are unable to apply their new knowledge after returning to their home institutions that lack adequate facilities. NEW RESEARCH CENTERS 16
On the other hand, the program has allowed some of China's best biology research centers to make great improvements in their facilities and equipment. An example is the Laboratory of Genetic Engineering at Fudan University. Rather than building a new facility, this key laboratory was integrated with existing laboratories of the university's Institute of Genetics, and the money was spent on new instrumentation. This allows visiting investigators maximum contact with well-trained university scientists and, at the same time, permits access by scientists to highly sophisticated laboratory instruments. NEW RESEARCH CENTERS 17
