The ancient city of Lunan is renowned for its elegance, and Langya is celebrated for its many distinguished scholars. In the new era, Linyi is embracing talents from across the world with a more open and inclusive attitude. Amid the surging waves of thirteen landmark industrial chains and the internationalization and digitalization of its commercial sector, it walks in the same direction and grows together with talent. This column turns its lens toward those strivers who are rooted in the front lines and pressing forward with determination, inviting you to listen to their innovation journeys and witness their shining moments. With this, we extend our sincere respect to every talented individual who has contributed wisdom and strength to Linyi's development.
Gong Jinsong:
Using synthetic biology as an engine
To drive industry-university-research integration and mutual success
In the laboratory of the School of Life Sciences and Health Engineering at Jiangnan University, Professor Gong Jinsong leads his team in deep cultivation of protein engineering, synthetic biology, and biocatalysis. He has presided over more than 10 research projects, including those funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and National Key R&D Programs, but his work has never been confined to the limited space of the laboratory.
Gong Jinsong has carried out deep cooperation with Shandong Kunda Biotechnology Co., Ltd., establishing the world's first ten-thousand-ton-level biological nicotinic acid production line, writing a vivid model of scientific and technological achievements moving toward industrialization. From Wuxi on the shores of Taihu Lake to Linyi in the Yimeng Mountain area, this professor has spent more than a decade catalyzing “enzymes” and “cells” into a powerful engine driving industrial upgrading and talent cultivation.
Precise linkage
From industry demand to technological breakthrough
In Yishui County, Linyi City, Shandong Kunda Biotechnology Co., Ltd. is a fine biochemical enterprise mainly engaged in deep processing of potato crops. Using non-grain crop cassava as raw material, the company conducts deep processing after sorting, pulping, extraction, and fermentation, continuously extending and supplementing its chain to develop 7 industrial chains of high added value, including potassium sorbate, vitamin B3, and 2,3-dichloropyridine. More than 100 products are applied in multiple fields such as food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics, and are sold to more than 120 countries and regions worldwide.
As an active form of vitamin B3, nicotinic acid is an indispensable vitamin raw material in the fields of feed, food, medicine, and cosmetics, with strong global market demand. For a long time, global nicotinic acid production has been dominated by the traditional chemical hydrolysis method, but this method has high production costs and enormous environmental pressure. Facing this “bottleneck” technology, Kunda Biotechnology urgently needed a green and efficient new path.
In 2022, Kunda Biotechnology appointed Gong Jinsong as chief scientist. As a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Life Sciences and Health Engineering at Jiangnan University, Gong Jinsong has long been engaged in applied basic research and industrial transformation in the field of green biological manufacturing of functional nutritional chemicals. He leads his team in focusing on the core issues of the biological manufacturing industry, particularly achieving a series of breakthroughs in the field of converting biomass resources into functional chemicals. His landmark achievement—“biocatalytic nicotinic acid technology”—completely overturned the traditional high-energy-consumption, high-pollution high-temperature and high-pressure chemical production process.
In order to translate this process into practical application, Gong Jinsong made dozens of visits to Shandong Kunda Biotechnology Co., Ltd. for inspection and communication, and was deeply involved in the entire process of production facility demonstration, design, construction, and trial operation, guiding the company to successfully build the world's first ten-thousand-ton-level biological production line.
“Not only do the safety indicators and technical indicators far exceed traditional production processes, but in just 5 years it has captured more than 20% of the global nicotinic acid market share, breaking the technical monopoly of European and American countries on this core product,” said Gong Jinsong. The two parties later jointly established the “Shandong Kunda–Jiangnan University Biocatalysis Joint Laboratory,” which has become a key hub connecting cutting-edge basic research with industrial application, accelerating the process of scientific research achievements moving from the laboratory to the market.
Chain-style rise
From enterprise benchmark to industrial highland
Through university-local cooperation, the complete biocatalytic nicotinic acid technology jointly pioneered by Gong Jinsong and Kunda Biotechnology achieved a nicotinic acid conversion concentration reaching the highest level reported internationally (541 g/L), with green refining achieving zero emissions. The technology reached the internationally leading level and won the second prize of the Shandong Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award.
As the only future industry among Linyi's 13 landmark industrial chains, the biological manufacturing industry has reached 48 above-scale enterprises, with a cumulative output value of 21.7 billion yuan in 2025, an increase of 10.4%, initially building an industrial system covering biological enzyme preparations, bio-based materials, biological agriculture, biological food, and other fields. Backbone enterprises are accelerating their growth, with industry leaders such as Kunda Biotechnology, Longkete Enzyme Preparations, and Qixing Lemon emerging.
In early 2026, Linyi City comprehensively launched the “1+13+X” industrial technology research institute system around 13 key industrial chains. Led by Linyi University, together with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shandong University, Jiangnan University, the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and 10 key enterprises, the Linyi City Biological Manufacturing Industry Technology Research Institute was jointly established, becoming the dedicated “chief technology officer” serving the city's biological manufacturing industry.
In terms of attracting and cultivating scientific and technological talent, Gong Jinsong deeply understands the way of industry-education integration. He innovatively integrates vertical research projects such as National Natural Science Foundation projects, as well as “bottleneck” technical challenges urgently needing solutions from enterprises, deeply into the graduate training system, constructing a full-chain education model of “basic research–technical breakthrough–industrialization practice,” allowing students to temper solid scientific research foundations and outstanding engineering practice capabilities while solving real industrial challenges, becoming interdisciplinary innovative vanguards highly favored by enterprises. In the past 5 years, Gong Jinsong has introduced 15 R&D personnel to enterprises such as Shandong Hongda Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Shandong Kunda Biotechnology Co., Ltd., and Shandong Focusfreda Biotech Co., Ltd.
“Only by deeply rooting the foundation of scientific and technological innovation in the fertile soil of industry demand and talent cultivation, and connecting the pathways of industry-university-research integration, can we bear abundant fruits of mutual success that benefit multiple parties and lead the future,” said Gong Jinsong. He stated that in the future, he will continue to deepen collaborative innovation with Linyi's biological manufacturing industry, promote the landing and transformation of more cutting-edge biotechnology achievements in regional industrial clusters, and inject sustained momentum into the high-quality development of the industrial chain.
This article is reprinted from the WeChat public account @Talent Linyi