The stem cell industry is positioned as a national development strategy in China’s 13th Five-Year Plan, 14th Five-Year Plan, and the "Healthy China 2030" Outline—undoubtedly the inevitable direction for advancements in medical technology. However, due to the industry’s long lifecycle and high technical barriers, China’s stem cell sector remains relatively immature overall. Most players in the industry are small to medium-sized enterprises still in the early stages of research and development, lacking commercially viable or medically certified products. As a result, the industry’s closed-loop ecosystem has yet to fully take shape, making it crucial for both government and industry stakeholders to establish robust national mechanisms to foster growth and accelerate the translation of scientific breakthroughs into practical applications.

The reporter from Investment Times learned that during the 2022 National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Yang Keng, a deputy to the National People's Congress and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Landsea Group, already put forward proposals focusing on the development of the stem cell industry. He proposed establishing a national-level promotion platform dedicated to the entire stem cell industry chain, aiming to address the critical issue of the "patent technology pool" while focusing on breakthroughs in key technologies and fostering industry-wide commercialization across upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors—thereby effectively advancing the growth of the stem cell ecosystem.

Meanwhile, Yang Keng also offered suggestions on innovating development mechanisms for "specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative" SMEs. He proposed that the government could provide robust supporting measures—ranging from financial assistance and enhanced services to talent development—to help reduce innovation costs for businesses, thereby accelerating SMEs onto a fast track of growth. In particular, companies deeply rooted in niche markets are likely to benefit most, enabling them to break through critical core technologies and ultimately emerge as true industry leaders: the "little giants" of their respective sectors.

The stem cell industry chain is divided into three segments: upstream (collection and storage), midstream (new drug development), and downstream (medical applications). This entire industry chain is characterized by long market cycles, high R&D investment, and significant risks. Meanwhile, in terms of clinical trial activities—measured by factors such as the number of applications, types of formulations, targeted indications, and the level of support provided across the upstream and downstream sectors—China’s stem cell medical technology still lags behind that of developed countries like Europe and the U.S.

At the same time, since the stem cell industry involves deep engagement and collaboration among regulatory agencies, research institutions, companies, medical facilities, suppliers, and patients, industry-wide "islands" of enterprises, organizations, or technologies have already emerged—shaped by factors such as industry development and regional dynamics.

For instance, although China ranks second only to the United States in the number of stem-cell-related patent applications—exceeding 1,000 per year—several key challenges remain: stem cells are still scattered across various subcategories, failing to establish a clear industry-wide trend; applicants continue to be predominantly universities and medical research institutions, with no robust movement toward patent commercialization; and the conversion rate for patents filed by these academic and research entities remains alarmingly low, averaging just 5% on average.

The reporter from *Investment Times* learned that Yang Keng, in his proposals aimed at vigorously promoting the translational application of stem cells and significantly advancing the national mechanism for fostering the stem-cell industry, specifically put forward three recommendations.

One is to focus on overcoming the critical technological bottlenecks hindering the stem cell industry, and to build a "patent technology pool."

In his view, given the fragmented nature of current stem-cell industry technologies, it is challenging for individual companies to independently overcome the technical hurdles in research and development. To address this, he suggests that the government could step in by allocating dedicated funds to establish a national-level stem-cell patent technology management organization. This organization would evaluate and select high-quality patent technologies related to the stem-cell sector from public universities and medical research institutions across the country, consolidating those with significant technological value into a paid licensing system under the patent operation platform—effectively creating a "patent technology pool." Such a nationally coordinated platform would then serve as a centralized hub for sharing cutting-edge stem-cell innovations, directly helping companies tackle the dispersed technical challenges they face in scaling up stem-cell therapies for industrial applications.

After the "patent technology pool" is established, companies interested in collaboration can gain access to patent licenses at an initial, low-cost, fee-based rate, enabling them to implement the patented technologies. This approach helps solidify their core competencies, tackle technical challenges, and prevent both corporate and national resources from being wasted or duplicated. Ultimately, leveraging the platform’s power will drive the industrialization of these companies’ technologies.

Meanwhile, once the enterprise achieves industrialization, a portion of the resulting profits—specifically, sales royalties generated from the "patent technology pool"—will be reinvested back into the platform. This mechanism ensures the platform’s sustainable growth while simultaneously channeling substantial funds into education, fundamental research, and collaborative partnerships between industry players and academic institutions like universities and research centers. Together, this creates a win-win-win scenario: strengthening the nation's global technological leadership in the stem-cell industry while fostering innovation across multiple sectors.

Yang Keng's second suggestion is to establish a mechanism for setting industry standards, thereby accelerating the translation of stem cell projects into practical applications.

Building on the establishment and refinement of a "patent technology pool," Yang Keng suggests that the national-level stem cell industry promotion platform should accelerate efforts to guide the development of industry standards across the entire value chain—spanning upstream, midstream, and downstream stages. This includes consolidating relevant foundational patent technologies into a unified industry "gold standard," such as standardized protocols for stem cell collection, stem cell storage, and clinical applications of stem cells.

This is because the refinement of industry standards enables companies at every stage to quickly draw on proven industry expertise. At the same time, these "gold standards" within the industry ensure compliance across the board, fostering healthy growth and development. As a result, businesses can focus their resources on advancing core technologies, effectively accelerating the translation of stem cell applications into real-world innovations.

He emphasized that by leveraging shared, open, and operational mechanisms, the platform can help stem cell institutions and companies with diverse innovative technologies complement each other’s strengths, fostering mutual learning and collaboration to drive joint innovation—and ultimately enabling the healthy growth of the entire industry.

Yang Keng's third suggestion is to foster cross-departmental collaboration and jointly make strong efforts to build a thriving industrial environment for stem cell development.

In his view, for stem-cell companies to achieve industrialization, seamless integration and collaboration across the upstream, midstream, and downstream segments of the industry chain are essential. If unchecked, free-for-all competition could inevitably lead to failure in advancing industrialization—particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises—due to factors like insufficient resources, lack of experience, and redundant investments.

Therefore, a cross-departmental collaboration mechanism spanning the entire industry should be established. For instance, by developing streamlined processes and systems, multiple departments—including joint review and approval, end-user applications, IT infrastructure development, and environmental protection—can work together to evaluate existing stem cell enterprise projects. This collaborative approach will enable coordinated planning of resources needed for high-quality projects to move toward industrialization. Moreover, it could even pave the way for creating a one-stop guidance and incubation platform, covering the entire lifecycle of the stem cell industry. Such a platform would provide stem cell companies with essential business, capital, human resource, and policy support, helping them focus on enhancing their technological capabilities, quickly seizing competitive market positions, and accelerating the healthy growth of the entire industry.

Notably, during the inter-departmental collaboration process, Yang Keng also suggested establishing a robust evaluation system covering projects, funding, resources, and reviews, along with an effective multi-party communication mechanism. This would ultimately accelerate the timely assessment and translation of stem cell projects, ensuring the rational allocation of resources.