July 3rd, 2026:
Galway’s Hardiman Hotel became a meeting point for two of the world’s fastest-growing biotechnology ecosystems yesterday on July 2nd, as the inaugural Ireland–China BioTech Innovation Day brought together government, academia and industry from both countries.
Co-hosted by Rinn Medical Devices and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Ireland, the day-long event was designed to build mutual understanding and lay the foundation for a genuine cross-border innovation partnership in biotechnology and medical devices.
The opening session set an ambitious tone. Prof. David Burn , President of University of Galway , welcomed delegates to a university that has become a European hub for medtech research, before Prof. Diarmuid O’Brien, Chief Executive of Research Ireland , outlined the scale of opportunity for structured collaboration between Irish and Chinese research systems.
Their remarks were followed by Deputy Director-General Ms Zhuang Jia of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology and Ambassador Mr Zhao Xiyuan of the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China in Ireland, both of whom framed the day as a step toward deeper scientific ties between the two nations. Also in attendance was Councillor Helen Ogbu, Mayor of Galway, who met with the Ambassador at the event.
The welcome addresses closed with a joint presentation from Dr Iain Shaw of Rinn Medical Devices and Prof. Zhang Xian-en of Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology, who together offered delegates a comparative primer on the biotech ecosystems of Ireland and China, setting up the scaffolding for the sessions that followed.
The remainder of the morning turned to Ireland’s own strengths, with a run of presentations underlining the depth of talent now sitting within the newly formed Rinn Network of research centres. Prof. Timothy O’Brien , Prof. Patrick W. Serruys and Prof. Matthew Griffin, of Rinn Medical Devices at University of Galway, set out the network’s ambitions across device innovation and translational research. Their contributions sat alongside a presentation from Dr Eoin Clancy of the ARC Hub for HealthTech, whose work on translating early-stage therapeutic and device research into clinical application drew particular interest from the visiting Chinese delegations.
Further sessions from Prof. David Brayden of Rinn Medical Devices at University College Dublin and Prof. Damien Thompson of Rinn Pharma and BioPharma at University of Limerick , alongside industry input from Managing Director of PLM Medical Devices Mr John Prior , rounded out a picture of an Irish ecosystem that is increasingly networked, translational and outward-facing.
The afternoon session shifted the floor to China, with academics and institute directors including Prof. Dong Jiahong from Tsinghua University, Prof. Shen Dinggang from ShanghaiTech University, Prof. Wu Chengtie from Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Prof. Sun Lining from Soochow University and Dr Xue Jianmin from Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, CAS, presenting on advances spanning imaging intelligence, biomaterials and regenerative medicine, alongside industry perspectives from Prof. Mao Shanhong from Zhongguancun Fengtai Science Park, Beijing and Mr Chi Haipeng from Beijing Dynaflow Lab Solution Co., Ltd.
As the day closed, the overriding message from both sides was one of complementarity between Ireland’s dense, translation-focused research network and China’s scale and manufacturing depth.
Commenting on the success of the event, Dr Iain Shaw, Interim Operations Director at Rinn Medical Devices said that “the focus of this event was around relationship building and bringing people together to create a better understanding and potential alignment between the biotech and medtech ecosystems in our two countries. Our hope is that this will convert into funded joint programmes in the future, but as a first, carefully constructed conversation between two ecosystems, the Innovation Day delivered exactly what we hoped to achieve.”
Read more about the event in the article ‘Shared health challenges foster Ireland-China medical cooperation‘ here.
*Note, Chinese names are written Last name, First name, in the above text.
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