While the novel coronavirus outbreak threw many industries into dire straits, biotech enterprises in the eastern Chinese city of Xiamen steered through the epidemic by stepping up innovation.

Founded in 2013, Xiamen Wiz Biotech Co., Ltd. is committed to rapid diagnostic reagent, integrating R&D, production and sales. However, the epidemic seriously impacted its domestic business, said Lin Zhikeng, chairman of the company.

Opportunities always favor those who are prepared. After the epidemic outbreak, Lin responded instantly and led his team to develop testing kits for coronavirus.

"In the face of the crisis, we applied existing technologies to new fields and seized the opportunity to expand the overseas market," Lin said.

In March, the company's diagnostic kits were granted certification to enter the EU market and added to the list of China's reagent exports, said Lin.

So far, the company has exported more than 1 million testing kits.

"There is a huge market in subdivision areas of the biotech industry. Only through long-term research and innovation can we seize the opportunity," Lin said.

Xiamen-based Heat Shock Cell Biotechnology Co., Ltd., which focuses on the prevention and treatment of tumor and autoimmune diseases, increased its investment in R&D by 45 percent in the first half of this year.

"Our imports of cell lines, preparations and equipment were hampered because of the epidemic, which directly influenced our research and production," said Wu Jianhong, CEO of the company. "However, the crisis also brought us a chance to enhance innovation."

According to Wu, the company took to alternative means to continue its research, developed products that can enhance the body's immunity, and cooperated with several public hospitals to apply technologies in clinical practices.

In the factory of Xiamen Innovax Biotech Co., Ltd., workers were busy manufacturing China's domestically-developed HPV vaccine. Jointly developed by Xiamen University and Innovax, the HPV vaccine is a name card for the company home and abroad.

"It cost 17 years to develop the vaccine. After we meet the standard for securing investment, the annual output of the vaccine will reach 30 million units," said Li Shicheng, vice general manager of the company.

Earlier this year, Innovax applied for the WHO's "prequalification of vaccines," hoping to go global with its homegrown HPV vaccine.

So far, Innovax has inked contracts with at least four countries along the Belt and Road, including Indonesia and Bangladesh, to provide HPV vaccines.

The biotech industry in Xiamen has realized industrial agglomeration and talent gathering after a dozen years of development, said Ding Changfa, associate professor with the School of Economics, Xiamen University.

In June, Xiamen adopted a slew of policies to encourage innovations in the biotech industry and build itself into a city of life-science and technology in China.