Merck, a major science and technology company, started operations of a new innovation and collaboration center in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on Monday. This center is dedicated to serving the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area by uniting efforts from government, industry and academia to foster technological breakthroughs on a global scale.
"It's not just an innovation center, it's also a collaboration center that will bring different forces together," said Rogier Janssens, president of Merck China. "The question was never why Shenzhen, but rather when. As an epicenter of science and technology, Shenzhen is perhaps the capital of the world in these fields right now."
The center, spanning a total of 2,500 square meters in Nanshan district, is a joint effort by Merck, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Shenzhen municipal government.
It includes a 600-square-meter main facility and an additional 1,900-square-meter laboratory operated by CAS. The laboratory is accessible to students, faculty members and research teams within the CAS system, fostering an open innovation ecosystem.
Janssens highlighted the center's role in facilitating breakthroughs, which he described as "not a solo act". He said: "We have the government providing policy support, academia offering ideas and innovation, and Merck bringing scale and speed to development.
