A model for facilitating translational research and development in China: Call for establishing a Hong Kong Branch of the Chinese National Engineering Research Centre for Biomaterials

SummaryWith significant improvements in living standards in China and the aging population that accompanies these improvements, the market demand for high-quality orthopaedic biomaterials for clinical applications is tremendous and growing rapidly. There are major efforts to promote cooperation between different scientific institutes with complementary strengths for the further development of the biomaterial industry in China to achieve the technological level of developed countries. An excellent example is that the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China (MOST; Beijing, China) established the Chinese National Engineering Research Centres (CNERCs), which serve as a major initiative in driving basic and applied technological research and development (R&D) in mainland China. To create a win-win situation with Hong Kong, the MOST and the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission are jointly establishing the Hong Kong Branch of the CNERCs. Through an amicable arrangement, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK; Shatin, Hong Kong) and the Chinese National Engineering Research Centre for Biomaterials (i.e., Main Centre) in Chengdu, People's Republic of China have decided to apply to establish the Hong Kong Branch of the CNERC for Biomaterials at the CUHK. The effort in establishing the Hong Kong Branch of Biomaterials seeks to promote further collaboration with the Main Centre with the goals of promoting synergy and a win-win cooperation between mainland China and Hong Kong in scientific research, talent cultivation, clinically driven novel biomaterials product design, and preclinical and clinical testing. It will thus become a model for the successful collaboration between the Hong Kong research institutions and the mainland CNERCs in the area of biomaterials. Such initiatives will facilitate close collaboration in translational medicine associated with biomaterial development and application.