FEFU and Shanghai launch programme to bring Russian biotech startups to the Chinese market

The Advanced Engineering School (AES) of the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), Institute of Biotechnology, Bioengineering and Food Systems, and the PuE-Shanghai Business Incubator signed a cooperation agreement on the sidelines of the 10th Eastern Economic Forum. The key collaborative project will be the joint implementation of a Russian educational programme for executives and founders of biotech businesses entitled “Leaders in Bioeconomy Development.”

The “Leaders in Bioeconomy Development” programme is designed to train executives capable of bringing Russian biotechnology projects to the international level, with a focus on markets in the Asia-Pacific Region (APAC). As part of this partnership, the PuE Business Incubator – one of China’s leading platforms for innovation commercialization – will serve as a partner for the programme’s expeditionary module in Shanghai. The participants – Russian tech entrepreneurs and executives – will undergo intensive hands-on training to validate their projects in the context of of Asia’s largest bioeconomy cluster. The programme’s partners include School of Management Skolkovo, Technology Platform BioTech 2030, Innopraktika Company, and Scientific and Manufacturing Group of Companies Arnika.

“Far Eastern Federal University is building a strategy for cooperation and domestic leadership in high technologies on the complex and highly competitive markets of the Asia-Pacific Region. We serve as a conduit for Russian companies with our unique expertise and extensive network of partnerships. Such projects not only reinforce our status as a regional leader in innovation but also directly contribute to the country’s technological sovereignty by strengthening strong economic, scientific, and educational ties with key partners in the APAC,” noted Evgeny Vlasov, Vice President for International Relations at FEFU.

“For us, this partnership is a logical step forward to developing the scientific and educational bridge between Russia and Asia. As a competence center for engaging with APAC countries, FEFU is committed to ensuring that Russian technologies and startups are competitive at the global level. Partnership with such a practice-oriented platform as PuE gives our participants a unique resource: access to the Shanghai innovation cluster ecosystem and the opportunity to validate their projects in real time,” emphasized Lyudmila Tekuteva, Director of the Advanced Engineering School at FEFU.

The collaboration format includes expert sessions by top Chinese specialists in biotechnology, sustainable development, and venture investment, as well as visits to industrial sites and R&D centers of leading biotech companies in Shanghai. Participants of the programme will have the opportunity to hold working meetings with potential partners, investors, and distributors to test market-entry hypotheses. They will also receive project support in adapting their business models and products to meet the requirements and standards of the Chinese and Asia-Pacific markets. Upon completion, participants will receive a professional retraining diploma from FEFU and an advanced training certificate from Skolkovo.

“The PuE-Shanghai Business Incubator is ready to serve as a platform for implementing our Russian colleagues’ educational programme. We see great potential in Russian developments in the field of bioeconomy – ranging from agri-biotech to waste processing and biomedicine. Our goal is to help the developers of these projects see themselves in a global context, understand the demands of the Asian market, and establish effective partnerships with Chinese stakeholders. We are confident that this collaboration will be mutually beneficial and open up new opportunities for cooperation between our countries,” noted Su Jing, General Director of PuE-Shanghai Business Incubator LLC.

It should be noted that Far Eastern Federal University is actively engaged in international relations, reinforcing its position as a flagship of Russian education in the Asia-Pacific Region. FEFU’s international partner network includes over 200 educational institutions, more than 160 of which are located in Asia. A key instrument of FEFU’s international activities is its network of overseas offices across the APAC. The university has already opened four representative offices abroad – in Hanoi (Vietnam), Beijing (China), Tokyo (Japan), and New Delhi (India). FEFU also maintains a branch campus in Japan and 15 Russian Language and Culture Centers in China.