A collaborative innovation center was launched at the weekend for biomedical technology transfer between China's Yangtze River Delta region and the Balkan Peninsula.

The new center was established at the 2023 China Health Equipment and Technology Conference and the third China Health Management International Forum at the Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences which gathered more than 400 participants from home and abroad to share their wisdom on how digital technology and artificial intelligence can enable high-quality integrated development of medical care and the health industry.

It will focus on advanced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, incubation of scientific research findings, and high-end talent training in the field of biomedicine, to help enterprises in Shanghai and in China to better serve participating countries in the Belt and Road initiative.

Wu Tao, president of the Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, said digital technology and AI are empowering various industries while causing some problems, thus how to ensure the safety, reliability and controllability of digitalization and intelligentization had become a common task for the whole world.

He said the university had become aware of the issue and had been researching on how to build up health chains, including health data, health security and health management.

Hou Yan, president of the China Association of Medical Equipment, co-organizer of the conference, said the development of health management and related equipment and technology is at a crucial stage with plenty of opportunities.

"The new generation of artificial intelligence technology has brought great opportunities for the transformation and upgrading of the medical and health industry, and the digital intelligence technology is changing the development model of the health industry," he said.

He believes it is necessary to pay attention to policy-making and industry supervision to provide more stable and reliable support to guarantee the development of the medical and health care industry.

Huang Hong, deputy director of the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission and deputy director of the Shanghai Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, expressed the hope that the newly established center can accelerate the transformation of high-quality innovation achievements in the field of biomedicine at home and abroad, build up a transfer ecosystem, stimulate industrial talents for scientific and technological innovation, and agglomerate high-end medical innovation industry resources.

Radoslav Gajanin, rector of the University of Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina, said his university would like to join the newly established center and carry out all-round cooperation with the Shanghai University of Medical and Health Sciences in education, research, teacher training and student visits.