Biotech expert pursues dream in Hainan

HAIKOU — Fu Yong has successfully cultivated Haematococcus pluvialis — a freshwater, unicellular algae — in South China's Hainan province, and now plans to increase investment to establish a factory there.

Fu, 58, is the chairman of the Hainan Furuicom Biotechnology and he is dedicated to pursuing his dream. Hainan has introduced a slew of preferential policies to attract talent like Fu, to help speed up the construction of the island's fledging free trade port.

In 2014, after living in Japan for 32 years, Fu returned to Haikou and started his own business. He served as the chief executive officer of Hainan Hai Rui Educational Investment Co.

Official figures show that Hainan has attracted more than 500,000 people since April 13,2018. The province aims to recruit 800,000 more in the next five years, including a target of 150,000 this year.

Born and raised in Haikou, the provincial capital, Fu was among the Chinese students selected to study overseas during the country's implementation of reform and opening-up policies in the 1980s.

In 1983, Fu's academic performance in school earned him an opportunity to study in Japan, with government funding. He majored in both fishery and marine science from Nagasaki University.

"I chose these majors because they are closely related to the main industries in Hainan. The two places both have abundant ocean resources," says Fu.

Three years after graduation, he worked for Nagasaki University and the National Research Institute of Aquaculture in Japan. Later, Fu worked for Fuyo Ocean Development and Engineering and Japan Biogenic.

In 2009, Biogenic appointed him to run its subsidiary in Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan province.

"While I was in Japan, I constantly paid attention to the development of my home. When I got a chance to go back there to work in 2009, I thought it was the right time to return," Fu recalls.

In Kunming, Fu acquired expertise in biotechnology-based Haematococcus pluvialis and gained a thorough understanding of the cultivation process. Haikou and Kunming share similar warm climates, so Fu thought maybe the algae could be cultivated in Haikou as well.

"I look forward to more frequent technical exchanges with other countries and expect to introduce overseas funds, cutting-edge technologies and products to Hainan," Fu says.

In 2020, China released a master plan to build the whole of Hainan Island into a globally influential and high-level FTP by the middle of the century. Since then, a series of favorable policies have been issued to support the development of the Hainan FTP.

"I believe Hainan FTP has a promising future. That's why I set up my company here in 2020, to supply quality products for my customers," Fu says.