Biomanufacturing Seizes Strategic Opportunity in China’s 15th Five-Year Plan

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan Outline has identified biomanufacturing as a key focus in fostering future industries, positioning it alongside quantum technology, hydrogen energy and other cutting-edge sectors to become new economic growth drivers, reported China Daily on April 3.

As a vital part of future industries, biomanufacturing is now entering an unprecedented period of strategic opportunity, which has become a focal point of global technological competition and industrial transformation. “The 15th Five-Year Plan period will be a crucial strategic development phase for China’s biomanufacturing, with profound connotations in four dimensions,” said Wang Ming, Director of the Biomanufacturing Department under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in an exclusive interview.

Wang explained that China is experiencing an acceleration in biomanufacturing technological transformation. First listed as a key development direction in the 11th Five-Year Plan for Biotech Industry Development in 2007, biomanufacturing has evolved from an academic term to a trillion-yuan industrial sector in China. It was first included in the government work report in 2024 and further emphasized in the 15th Five-Year Plan Outline.

Its strategic value is also becoming increasingly prominent amid global geopolitical changes. By using renewable carbon resources such as starch sugar, straw and even carbon dioxide as raw materials, biomanufacturing enhances the resilience and safety of industrial chains in energy, food, medicine and other fields, Wang added.

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) is driving a breakthrough in biomanufacturing, as biotechnology, a data-intensive discipline, becomes an ideal testbed for AI-enabled innovation. This integration accelerates progress in gene analysis, protein design and intelligent bioprocess optimization, potentially shortening R&D cycles from years to months or even days.

China is also in a critical period of reshaping its global position in biomanufacturing. Over the past five years, it has ranked first in the world in terms of high-quality papers and patents in the field, with the largest fermentation capacity globally. In 2025, China’s innovative drug transaction volume topped the world for the first time, transforming from a technology importer to an exporter.

To seize this opportunity, China is taking targeted measures, including deepening integration of scientific and industrial innovation, expanding diverse application scenarios and optimizing the industrial ecosystem. Efforts are focused on building a “two-way interaction” mechanism between technological and industrial innovation, developing non-grain raw material technologies and improving policy support and talent cultivation.

“We have established a comprehensive policy system covering top-level design, ministerial coordination and local support, and are accelerating the implementation of these policies to boost the industry,” Wang noted. China is also actively participating in formulating global biomanufacturing standards to enhance its international discourse power.