Bay Area’s formula for success is scientific

GUANGZHOU — Poon Hung-fai, from Hong Kong, says his comfort zone sits on both sides of the Pacific. He naturally switches among Mandarin, Cantonese and English when necessary.

Poon was raised in Hong Kong and received his doctorate in the United States. The biochemist has anchored his entrepreneurship in Zhongshan in the GuangdongHong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. He says as a scientist, all his choices are made based on firsthand data and rational thinking.

“The experience of studying and working abroad served to broaden my horizon and, more importantly, made me notice the potential of the biomedical industry in the Chinese mainland,” he says.

However, he was hesitant at first. Before his move, he was already a senior researcher at a well-known US biotechnology company and a technical director for the Asia-Pacific region.

However, words from his father helped him to reach his decision. “My father once came to visit me in the US and stayed for half a year. Before he left, he told me that he could not communicate with his grandson because the child could not speak Chinese.”

In 2012, he joined a Chinese mainland pharmaceutical company as its technical director and chief scientist.

“There is a great demand for biotechnology talent on the mainland. And I think I will develop better in a cultural background that’s familiar to me,” he says.

His subsequent work experience further convinced him that the Chinese mainland’s biomedical industry has huge development potential, and he decided to start his own business.

Poon chose the research and development of culture media, a key raw material in the biomedical industry, as his entrepreneurial direction.

He says the supply of culture media is basically monopolized by large foreign enterprises. The delivery period is long, and the product quality is unstable. It is easily affected by external factors, which is a big constraint for Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises.

After some consideration, he set his eyes on the Greater Bay Area and established Quacell Biotechnology Co Ltd.

“I am very familiar with the area, and it is very reassuring to live here with my family.”

He says the local government was very professional, knowing what he was doing and how to help.

He says over the past five years, the Greater Bay Area has witnessed rapid development in the biomedical sector. “For scientific and technological enterprises, locking into the Bay Area market as early as possible is of great importance to tap into domestic and international markets in the future.”

In 2019, the Chinese government introduced the outline of its development plan for the Greater Bay Area supporting Zhongshan in its promotion of biomedical science and technology innovation. Poon became ever more confident about his company.

His team has grown from 12 people to more than 100, and the company has grown from a research and development laboratory of 900 square meters to an innovative service platform of nearly 10,000 square meters. It has won the recognition and trust of nearly 100 biopharmaceutical and biotechnology enterprises, both at home and abroad, obtaining investment from many venture capital institutions.

Looking back on his own experience, Poon says it was important for young people in Hong Kong to broaden their horizons by going to the mainland to see the development and changes there.

He says young people in Hong Kong should look at things with an open mind and make their own judgment using their personal experience.

“The bus has set off. Jump on or you will miss all the opportunities,” he says.