Hailuo Group in Wenzhou employs more than 2,000 workers, including 400 professionals in various bio-chemical disciplines. Among its products are enzyme bacteria for environmental animal feeds, plasma products to cure rare diseases, organic food and fingerprint-reading equipment. [Photo/Provided to China Daily]

Shao says his ambition is fully supported by his father, Shao Qixing, who was willing to make available the seed capital for his venture, amounting to more than 2 million yuan ($320,000).

His efforts are beginning to produce results.

Hailuo now employs more than 2,000 workers, including 400 professionals in various bio-chemical disciplines, in a factory complex covering 114 mu, or 7.6 hectares.

Among its many products are those based on enzyme bacteria for environmental animal feeds, plasma products to cure rare diseases, organic food and fingerprint-reading equipment.

Shao said that total sales are expected to increase to 1.8 billion yuan in 2013 from 1.54 billion yuan in 2012.

He declined to disclose his profits, but added: "We are in this for the long-term. Short-term profit is not important at this stage.

"We're not ambitious to achieve any rapid growth in overall sales, but we always set an average growth target of between 15 and 20 percent."

He brushed aside questions about the risks arising from the high development costs that have convinced so many of his peers that capital can be better used in buying properties, investing in coal mines, or punting on the stock market.

Zhu Qi, the senior official for the technology industry development sector of Wenzhou High-tech Industry Development Zone, said, "Hailuo Group surprised us by entering the plasma production industry bravely by making products for rare drugs to cure severe diseases, which requires a professional biological team and enough money."

But Zhu added that no other enterprise in the zone has overlapped such a great range of traditional products as Hailuo, calling it a pioneer in the restructuring and transformation of traditional manufacturing.

Zhou Dewen, chairman of the Wenzhou SME Development Association, added, "More SMEs are restructuring their enterprises by upgrading their products or developing other industries, while newly emerged high-tech-related products seem to offer great profits in a long-term perspective."

He said the success of Hailuo Group will be noted by more privately owned enterprises that are looking to expand their businesses in the biological field.

Hailuo's first move, a decade ago, in the high-technology industry was a bold one - introducing fermentative enzyme bacteria as additives to environmental animal feeds, to clear up phosphorus, which can lead to soil pollution.

Working alongside a team from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences on the green feeds project, Hailuo has been able to apply the enzyme bacteria to drugs and food, with 20 percent lower costs, as well as the fermentation of beer, saving up to 10 percent.

Entering the field of medical biology was an even larger step taken by Hailuo.