A Ningbo model for China-Germany biotech cooperation

As German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited Zhejiang on Feb 26 with a focus on smart manufacturing and green technology, a Ningbo-based biotechnology company has quietly become an example of innovative China-Germany collaboration.

Enzymaster (Ningbo) Bio-Engineering Co, which specializes in advanced technologies, has spent years building strong links with Germany in the field of biotech. In 2018, the company opened an office in Dusseldorf, marking a deeper technological connection with Europe's innovation ecosystem.

At the center of this partnership is Dr Thomas Daussmann, co-founder, executive vice-president and chief scientist of Enzymaster. Formerly the general manager of the Singapore R&D center of global synthetic biology leader Codexis, Daussmann has more than 20 years of experience in enzyme engineering.

Over the past 12 years, he has traveled to China nearly 30 times, bridging German precision and craftsmanship with China's data-driven innovation.

The collaboration has linked Enzymaster's 5,000-square-meter R&D center at the Yongjiang Laboratory in Ningbo with its technical team in Dusseldorf. The German side also maintains close ties with leading research institutions such as Forschungszentrum Julich.

Today, cooperation between the two sides is expanding from technical services to joint research and industrial upgrading. Their enzyme-based catalytic technologies are enabling greener chemical manufacturing, improving pharmaceutical synthesis, and opening possibilities in biodegradable and bio-based materials.

Looking ahead, Enzymaster is also exploring an "AI plus biomanufacturing" model through its EnzyAI computing platform, using vast enzyme gene data to predict optimal enzyme evolution.