Shanghai has unveiled an investment program to expand the city's biomedicine industry, featuring leading industry institutions, investment promotion agencies and financial organisations.

The aim of the initiative is to construct an investment promotion platform for the biomedicine industry to bolster the integration of industrial resources and boost innovation, it was announced at Tuesday's launch event.

In 2022, Shanghai's biomedicine industry was worth $853.7 billion, an increase of almost 6% over the previous year, Yicai Global reports. In addition, the number of biomedicine companies listed on Shanghai's Nasdaq-style Star Market increased by 11 to a total of 30 at the end of last year.

By the end of 2023, Shanghai aims for biomedicine industry growth to hit CNY900 billion ($130.9 billion), with an output of over CNY200 billion. Then, by 2025, the industry is projected to be worth more than CNY1 trillion ($145.4 billion), with an output of CNY240 billion, according to the director of the Biomedicine division of the municipal commission of Economy and Informatisation, Li Jia.

Biomedicine is one of the three prominent industries in Shanghai, Li went on to add, who said the city plans to construct a so-called global 'friend circle' via this initiative, to increase competition and influence within the sector.

A total of 23 institutions were amongst the first to get involved with the initiative, including Roche, AstraZeneca, Fosun Pharma, Shanghai's stake-backed Shanghai Healthcare Capital, Hankang Capital, Haitong Securities and Huatai Securities, Shine News reports.

In addition, the latest edition of the Shanghai Biomedical Industry Investment Guide was published on Tuesday. This guide provides an "inclusive introduction to the most important industry parks, major investment promotion initiatives and preferential policies at city and district level," the Shine report adds.