Calendar 2000–01

# reform and development of China, cultural relations and identities in East Asia, urban and regional development in the Asia-Pacific, gender in a changing world, the political development of Hong Kong, social indicators and the social development of Hong Kong. A collaborative research programme on southern China, Hong Kong and Taiwan has also been established with Yale University’s Council of East Asian Studies. There is a strong policy orientation in all the research programmes being undertaken. To support its research activities, the institute has been building up a data bank on Hong Kong, mainland China and the Asia-Pacific countries. Significant contribution in this respect has come from the Universities Service Centre, which is an important support centre for scholars in China studies. The affiliation of the acclaimed Universities Service Centre with the institute has greatly strengthened the documentation resources of the latter. Another important task of the institute is to promote academic exchange, host conferences, receive visiting researchers, and publish research findings. Hong Kong Institute of Biotechnology Limited Tel.: 2603 5111 Fax.: 2603 5012 E-mail: enquiry@hkib.org.hk Hong Kong Institute of Biotechnology Ltd. (HKIB), a subsidiary of the Council of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, is a non-profit private company founded in 1989 with a donation from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. Its mission is to provide the catalyst and essential infrastructure for the emergence of a biotechnology industry in the Hong Kong SAR with the following programmes: • pilot production of human therapeutics for clinical trial purposes; • development of bioreactor-based plant micro-propagation technologies; • an incubator programme; • clinical trial monitoring services; • process development for Chinese medicine. HKIB has produced a transmission-blocking anti-malaria vaccine TBV25H , whose phase I trial will be carried out concurrently in the US and the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong. It offers GMP and process development consultation services to local pharmaceutical and Chinese medicine manufacturers. Its Plant Biotechnology Unit develops cost-effective cell culture systems to mass produce high-quality Panax ginseng and value-added ornament plants. Its incubator facility houses a number of companies that commercialize R&D fruitions.