The first Asian Biotech Summit, aiming to promote the commercial application of the latest biological technology, will be held in Beijing in June this year.

Co-organized by the Pacific Rim Forum and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), the summit will have about 500 participants from the region's industries, institutions and government bodies.

Liu Wenjie, deputy president of the CCPIT, said Thursday that participants will discuss a dozen topics at the summit, including business opportunities arising from the development of biotechnology.

Alan Carroll, executive chairman of the Pacific Rim Forum, said the completion of the sequencing of the human genome in early 2001 marked a major watershed in the emergence of life science as an industry.

The latest advancements in biotechnology have been used in agriculture, telecommunications, energy, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, he said.

Carroll said he expects a biotech boom in China as the country has plenty of young scientists and the government is eager to develop science and technology.

( March 21, 2002)