The Inauguration Meeting of the COMSATS Joint Center for Industrial Biotechnology (CCIB) was held in Tianjin on April 14th. CCIB is built by Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (TIBCAS), and the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS). Under the framework of the National Innovation Center for Synthetic Biotechnology (NC SynBio), CCIB aims to promote the development of biotechnology and bioindustry in the member states and the “Belt and Road” countries.

The Inauguration Meeting was conducted both online and offline. The related officials from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) of China and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) of China, the Pakistan Ministry of Science and Technology, Tianjin Municipality and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and representatives from academia, industry, investment, member countries and COMSATS’ Network of International S&T Center of Excellence were invited to attend the meeting.

CHEN Linhao, the Deputy Director-General, Department of International Cooperation, MoST, MA Yanhe, Deputy Director, Standing Committee of Tianjin Municipal People’s Congress, Director-General, TIBCAS, CAO Jinghua, Executive Director of Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO), and XIA Zhenghuai, Deputy Director-General of Tianjin Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, attended the meeting. H.E. Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Government of Pakistan (Chairperson, COMSATS Consultative Committee), Arshad Mahmood, Executive Director COMSATS & Secretary MoST, Pakistan, Ashraf Shaalan, Former President, Chairperson, COMSATS Coordinating Council, National Research Centre (NRC), Egypt, attended the meeting online.

MA Yanhe and Arshad Mahmood signed the agreement of establishing CCIB. Then the participants witness the Unveiling Ceremony of CCIB and the Appointment Ceremony. Five Institutions that come from Pakistan, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Iran and Belarus, such as International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi, joined the Biomanufacturing Industry (Talent) Alliance as the first international members. In the Consultative Meeting, Prof. M. Iqbal Choudhary, Prof. Zayadan Bolatkhan Kazykhanuly, Prof. ZHAO Guoping, Prof. Jiang Biao, Prof. XING Jianmin, Prof. ZHUANG Yingping, etc, gave their consultative suggestions for the high-quality development of CCIB.

COMSATS is an inter-governmental international scientific and technological organization initiated by Pakistan in 1994. It aims to promote the sustainable economic and social development of southern countries through the promotion of South-South scientific and technological cooperation. It currently has 27 member states, and China is a founding member of the organization. TIBCAS is a well-known research institution for the eco-friendly development of industrial sectors through industrial biotechnology innovation. In 2018, it became the COMSATS International S&T Center of Excellence under the nomination of MoST. In 2019, it was approved by the MoST to take the leadership in the foundation of NC SynBio. TIBCAS is playing a leading role in the innovation of industrial biotechnology and the development of the biomanufacturing industry.

It is expected that in the preparatory phase of the next three years, CCIB will establish an industry-university-research cooperation platform primarily, demonstrate a new model for substantial, sustainable, high-level international S&T cooperation, and play an active role for the development of biotechnology and bioindustry in the member states. It is expected that by 2030, CCIB will make substantial contribution to the development of biotechnology and bioindustry, and become the benchmark and flagship for cooperation among the COMSATS member states and the “Belt and Road” countries.

The Inauguration Meeting (Image by TIBCAS)

The Signing Ceremony (Image by TIBCAS)

Unveiling Ceremony of the CCIB (Image by TIBCAS)

Ceremony for the first international members to join the Biomanufacturing Industry (Talent) Alliance (Image by TIBCAS)

Group photo (Image by TIBCAS)