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Growing Quickly

China's biotech hub, dubbed Pharma Valley, is experiencing explosive growth, according to Stat News, which likens the region to Cambridge's Kendall Square.

It notes that more than two dozen drug companies have opened there in the past two years — with more than 500 there in total. In addition, it says two new subway stops have opened there recently and it's where about a third of drugs approved by the China National Medical Products Administration were developed.

According to Stat News, this growth is being driven by a combination of government and private investment, the return of researchers from abroad, and the training of local talent. The Chinese government, it says, spent $254 billion last year on research and development and has used programs like the Thousand Talents Plan to lure back Chinese researchers from abroad, and returnees have brought new business model ideas with them.

"Many [of our staff] are coming back to seek a bigger impact in the field, to lead a larger team, to have more decision-making power," Jingsong Wang, CEO and founder of Harbour BioMed, a Pharma Valley firm, says of returning researchers. "To be part of the driving force for the industry."