Beidaihe New Area in Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province, is rapidly establishing itself as a national leader in the life and health sector. As China’s only national-level Life and Health Industry Innovation Demonstration Zone in the north, it leverages its 82-kilometer golden coastline and strategic position within the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development framework to build an integrated modern industrial system spanning health care, biomanufacturing, wellness, and cultural tourism.
Strategic Positioning and Policy Foundations
Established in 2016 with State Council approval, the demonstration zone carries a core mission of serving Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development by absorbing non-capital functions from Beijing. It pioneers a “Beijing R&D, Hebei transformation” model that accelerates the commercialization of scientific achievements at lower cost. In May 2025, Qinhuangdao signed a synthetic biomanufacturing collaboration agreement with Beijing’s Changping District and Tianjin’s Jinnan District, creating a three-location chain of “Changping headquarters R&D, Jinnan pilot incubation, and Qinhuangdao production transformation.”
The zone’s distinctive “medicine, pharmaceuticals, wellness, health management, and tourism” integrated positioning sets it apart from conventional biopharmaceutical parks. It constructs a full-chain ecosystem covering high-end medical services, biopharmaceutical and synthetic biology manufacturing, rehabilitation and wellness, lifelong health management, and coastal leisure tourism. Spatially, a “one core, five zones” layout spanning 520 square kilometers supports this vision, with the international health city as the central hub and specialized areas for wellness resorts, comprehensive supporting services, airport trade, green agriculture, and ecological conservation.
Its competitive edge rests on the State Council-approved “7+6” pilot policies—seven shared with Hainan’s Boao Lecheng and Guangxi’s Fangchenggang, plus six unique to Beidaihe. These enable clinical application of advanced medical technologies not yet widely available domestically. Key measures include expedited import of overseas-approved drugs not yet registered in China (five tumor drugs have already entered use), authorization for cell and gene therapies, and expanded access to investigational oncology drugs. A four-level linkage system (national–provincial–municipal–demonstration zone) ensures implementation, reinforced by provincial measures, municipal extensions, and local regulations. Supporting elements include a multi-billion-yuan life and health industry fund, streamlined “standard land” transfers, and cross-provincial handling of frequent administrative matters.
Cell Therapy and High-End Medical Clusters
The zone has become a rising center for cell therapy, often described as “Boao in the south, Beidaihe in the north.” More than 30 life and health enterprises have clustered here, covering cell therapy, gene testing, and precision medicine, with cell therapy as a signature strength. Key operational institutions include Jingdong Health Langjianwei Cell Therapy Hospital, Shanghai Cell Therapy Group’s Beidaihe New Area Hospital, Zhongke Future Stem Cell Hospital, and Huashi Tumor Hospital (authorized for umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell treatments for systemic lupus erythematosus and type 2 diabetes). Additional projects such as Lejie Stem Cell Hospital, Haijiya Cell Intelligent Therapy Platform, and Tianxiaxiu Regenerative Medicine facilities are advancing, creating a gradient of operational, under-construction, and pipeline projects spanning clinical services, R&D conversion, storage, and preparation.
By early 2026, 14 cell therapy-related technologies had passed expert review and were approaching clinical application. An innovative dual-filing system (institutional and project) has streamlined compliance while maintaining rigorous ethical and quality controls, including full-process traceability and GMP standards. Three national regional medical centers—Peking University Third Hospital Qinhuangdao Hospital (new campus), Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Dongfang Hospital Qinhuangdao Hospital, and Tianjin Cancer Hospital Qinhuangdao Hospital—have opened or begun operations, enabling same-quality sharing of top-tier Beijing-Tianjin resources. An international innovative drug and device exhibition hall, the only one of its kind in northern China, further supports the ecosystem.
Biomanufacturing Breakthroughs
A 3,700-mu biomanufacturing industrial park anchors production capabilities. It hosts the Beijing University of Chemical Technology Qinhuangdao Research Institute and projects such as Weiyuan Synthetic Biotechnology. The institute’s roughly 4,000-square-meter pilot base features a full gradient of fermentation systems from 50-liter seed tanks to 40,000-liter quasi-production lines, bridging laboratory research and industrial scale-up. Qinhuangdao’s location near 39°N in the “golden fermentation belt” reduces temperature-control energy costs by 10–15 percent compared with more extreme climates.
A standout achievement is Weiyuan’s globally pioneering one-step fermentation process for D-allulose, the first domestically approved via biological fermentation. Conversion efficiency exceeds 80 percent and production costs have fallen by about 50 percent. The institute has already completed more than 20 pilot projects and incubated multiple technology firms, strengthening the Beijing-Hebei innovation and industrial chain.
Wellness Tourism Integration
The zone capitalizes on its coastal and forest resources to fuse health services with culture and tourism. In 2025 it received 1.3 million wellness visitors and was listed among China’s top 100 sustainable wellness industry counties and districts. Scenic areas such as Nandaihe International Entertainment Center and Yutian Qilihai each attracted over one million visitors annually, reinforcing the region’s status as a Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coastal recreation destination. Training and recuperation institutions have transitioned into wellness facilities, drawing more than 71,800 elderly residents from Beijing and Tianjin in 2025.
Cultural tourism projects further enhance the ecosystem through year-round programming, immersive performances, and high-quality resorts, creating multi-season, full-time visitor flows that complement medical and wellness offerings.
Outlook
With over 30 life-health enterprises, dozens of major projects totaling hundreds of billions of yuan in investment, and repeated “zero-to-one” policy and technological firsts, Beidaihe New Area has progressed from national strategic pilot field to regional development highland. Its innovations in approval pathways, dual-filing systems, and regional collaboration are supplying practical experience for national regulations on biomedical new technologies. As the demonstration zone continues to expand high-end medical capacity, scale biomanufacturing, and deepen wellness-tourism integration, it is positioning itself as a vital northern engine for China’s life and health industries and a practical model for coordinated regional development.