Shenzhen Mayor Xu Qin met with leadership of the University of Edinburgh and the Usher Institute on 7th September 2016 - and welcomed collaborations Image Mayor Xu Qin of Shenzhen, a city of 18 million with a GDP greater than Ireland, held discussions at Nine Edinburgh BioQuarter with senior healthcare and life sciences staff from The University of Edinburgh and who are developing collaborations in China’s ‘Silicon Valley’. The optoelectroncis engineer and doctor of business administration, Shenzhen Mayor since 2010, confirmed his support for the proposed Edinburgh led projects currently under discussion.and provided strategic advice on strengthening business links between the University and the Pearl River Delta. He was particularly interested to support health care, data science and regenerative medicince projects and informed the University of financial support packages currently available. Shenzhen is home to one of the world’s busiest ports, the world’s largest genome sequencing centre (BGI), the world’s largest telecommunications manufacturer (Huawei)and hosts the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer (Foxconn). Another key Shenzhen company, BYD, will supply London with a fleet of battery powered buses. Mayor Xu was visiting Edinburgh to mark the first anniversary of the Edinburgh Shenzhen Creative Exchange, which was established as a reciprocal soft landing space in both cities for companies and investors in the creative and tech sectors. Publication date 23 Nov, 2016
