Xiamen University engineer Zheng Qingbing attends international conference in New Zealand

Summary

Zheng Qingbing, a senior engineer in Professor Xia Ningshao's team at our institute, visited New Zealand from 1 to 5 September at the invitation of Mihnea Bostina, director of the electron microscopy platform at the University of Otago, Dr Alice-Roza Eruera, and Joanna Hicks, dean of the School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Waikato, to take part in academic activities linked to Queenstown Research Week 2026 (QRW 2026). Team member Chen Yuanzhi, an assistant researcher, attended as well. QRW is one of Oceania's most influential series of academic events in the life sciences and biomedicine, drawing each year staff from universities and research institutions in New Zealand, Australia and a range of other countries and regions.

At the event, Zheng delivered a presentation titled 'Cryo-EM-Driven Structural Vaccinology for Antiviral Vaccine and Antibody Development', covering the application of cryo-electron microscopy and structural vaccinology to HPV and RSV vaccines and antibodies, and discussed further cooperation between China and New Zealand in structural biology and biomedicine with attending scholars. During the visit, Zheng and his colleague toured the University of Otago's Christchurch campus, the University of Canterbury, the University of Auckland and the Maurice Wilkins Centre (MWC), New Zealand's national centre of research excellence, exchanging views with researchers on progress and cooperation opportunities in life and health research. In Auckland, they met again with Professor Rod Dunbar of the University of Auckland, academic director of MWC, and Peter Lai, executive director of the MWC China-New Zealand programme (C-MWC), reviewing progress over the past year in academic visits and cooperation in the China-New Zealand life and health sector and discussing the next stage of academic interaction, personnel exchanges and research cooperation.

Commentary

New Zealand's life sciences industry is centred on Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin. MWC has deep strengths in cancer research and drug delivery, but most of its companies are small and medium-sized and lack high-end structural biology equipment and specialist staff. The Xiamen University team has already achieved domestic substitution in HPV vaccine development, and its cryo-EM-driven structural vaccinology approach can speed up antigen design, complementing New Zealand's work on RSV vaccines and antibody engineering.

For local biotechnology SMEs, such academic cooperation points to potential technology licensing, joint development or contract research opportunities. In the multibillion-dollar RSV vaccine race contested by GSK and Pfizer in particular, New Zealand companies can lower development risk by taking part in early structural analysis. On the other hand, Chinese research institutions are closely linked with industry, so NZ SMEs need to watch the intellectual property ownership and commercialisation terms in any cooperation and avoid becoming mere data providers.

QRW, as an influential academic platform in Oceania, offers local companies a window onto Asian innovation resources, but turning that into commercial orders still depends on the bridge role of institutions such as MWC, along with tracking follow-up arrangements on China-New Zealand research funding and mutual recognition of regulation.

Keywords: Zheng Qingbing, New Zealand, Queenstown Research Week, structural vaccinology, cryo-electron microscopy, University of Otago, Maurice Wilkins Centre, China-New Zealand academic exchange, life sciences

Source: Xiamen University