California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) held a grand ceremony on April 14th to celebrate the opening of the Rongxiang Xu BioScience Innovation Center. Elected officials from various levels of government in the United States, including Federal Representatives Mei C. Cheng, Ted Liu, and Jimmy Gomez, California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, and California Assembly Members Edward Chen, Shuqiang Fang, Wendy Carrillo, and Laura Friedman, were present to offer their congratulations. Xu Peng, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mebo International, and Li Li, President of the  Rongxiang Xu Foundation, attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The Rongxiang Xu BioScience Innovation Center is named after Dr. Rongxiang Xu, a pioneer in regenerative medicine whose innovative therapies have greatly reduced pain, illness, and death for burn patients. His work has been recognized by three U.S. presidents. In 2016, construction began on the Rongxiang Xu BioScience Innovation Center with the aim of creating a platform to promote entrepreneurship and innovation among young people. Its location is at the heart of the “California BioHub” concept developed by Xu Peng, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mebo Group. The newly opened Rongxiang Xu BioScience Innovation Center covers an area of 20,000 square feet and features the BioSpace incubator of California State University, Los Angeles, as well as dry and wet laboratory spaces, multipurpose classrooms, equipment, and conference rooms, making it a center for bioscience entrepreneurship and job creation in downtown Los Angeles.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rongxiang Xu BioScience Innovation Center played an important role in providing safe and accurate COVID-19 testing for one-third of the population in Los Angeles, helping to prevent the spread of the virus.

Jose Gomez, Executive Vice President of Cal State LA, said in his speech at the opening ceremony that the creation of the BioSpace program at Cal State LA was to address the severe shortage of laboratory space for bioscience entrepreneurs and startup companies, and to lead the university’s efforts in promoting the bioscience industry in Los Angeles. The Rongxiang Xu BioScience Innovation Center will help young people innovate and start businesses. Hundreds of people, including leaders in the bioscience industry and elected officials, attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony on that day.

California BioHub

The concept of the California BioHub originated from Xu Peng, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mebo Group, and was jointly created by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the California State Government, Los Angeles County Government, and Los Angeles City Government with Mebo. The establishment of this innovation community has forged the unique “BioHub” of the West Coast of Los Angeles, creating opportunities for the development of bioscience, science, economy, and industry revitalization in Los Angeles.

The Rongxiang Xu BioScience Innovation Center at Cal State LA is the focal point of the BioHub. The establishment of the center has connected all the research-oriented, education-oriented, and practice-oriented universities in the surrounding area, as well as hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, to form a complete ecosystem. With the emergence of the BioHub structure, Mebo has also formed strategic planning with several universities and campuses in California, becoming an important force in the research cluster of the California BioHub. According to statistics, since the formation of this bioscience ecosystem, nearly 200,000 talents have been introduced, and 2,900 bio-enterprises have settled in the BioHub, creating nearly 100,000 jobs and making significant contributions to the development of the bioscience industry in California.