With the theme "Striving together for a thriving industry," the week runs from October 16 to 20, amid which new measures are set in place to shore up the city's medical-tech sector.

Shanghai Vice Mayor Chen Jie said the city will continue to enhance investment of key projects and the full industry lifecycle including R&D, clinical and manufacturing.

Last year, the total biopharma industry size reached 853.7 billion yuan (US$119 billion).

"We welcome new partnerships and exchanges in the industry sector through the event, striving for high-quality development," he said.

It's expected to boost the development of biomedicine in the city and enhance technological and product innovation, and advance industry growth.

The third annual event includes dozens of forum discussions, inviting around 1,000 officials, scientists, experts, company leaders, investors and industry insiders.

The latest partnership to promote the overseas expansion of innovative medicines and medical devices from Shanghai were signed between 11 leading multinational companies and institutions including Bayer, Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, Sanofi and AstraZeneca.

At Monday's opening ceremony, Deputy Secretary General of the Shanghai People's Government Zhuang Mudi released an action plan to speed up the construction of Shanghai into a leading industrial hub for biopharma innovation.

By the end of 2025, Shanghai will have two robotic medical equipment industry clusters, and 10 leading local companies for medical robots.

The city will also enhance the core research capabilities for gene and cell therapy, while speeding up the translation of lab research work into commercial products, improving the production process, and optimizing the industrial ecology.

As many as 5 million square meters of standard biopharma manufacturing factory space will be under construction by 2024, to suit the growing demand for local supply of biomedicine.

Robotic surgical system manufacturer Intuitive Surgical, and Shanghai-based Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co Ltd's joint venture began the local production of the da Vinci surgery robotic system earlier this month, signaling the latest advancement for locally produced medical devices.

Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Roche Group, Severin Schwan, said in the keynote speech that China is now at a critical stage of industry evolution after achieving basic and universal coverage for health-care service in the past decade.

"Now China should seek the balance between ensuring basic health care and stimulating innovative service and business models to further boost the vibrant industry," he noted.