Shenyang-based 3SBio forged a venture partnership with Taizhou Oriental to license biopharmaceuticals from Western companies for late-stage development or manufacturing in China. In August, the biotech formed 3SBio Ventures with an initial investment of RMB200 million ($31.3 million) from 3SBio and RMB50 million ($7.8 million) from Taizhou Oriental, the investment arm of an industrial park in the wealthy eastern Jiangsu province. The new fund will seek Chinese licensing rights to biologic therapeutics for use in oncology, nephrology and inflammatory diseases. The fund will allocate $3–5 million to each company, with the first investment expected this year. The 3SBio case is not unique. More than five years ago, the state-owned Beijing Pharmaceutical Group, set up a company in California to seek early-stage pharma products for further development in China. The economic downturn in the US and Europe and the booming development of the Chinese pharma sector, plus heavy government support and Chinese returnees trained in the West, have facilitated the process, according to Fang Hu, former president of Shanghai-based Sunway Bio, who is now operating a contract research organization to help small, innovative biotech firms develop clinical trials.