Wang Jian (geneticist)

[2] After returning to China in 1994 to set up Jubilee Biotechnology, this provided much of the initial capital used to set up the Beijing Genomics Institute with Yang Huanming, Liu Siqi and Yu Jun in 1999 in order to engage in research contributing to the Human Genome Project.

In 2003 he was involved in the efforts to sequence and contain the SARS coronavirus,[5] meeting with former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Hu Jintao who praised BGI's contribution.

As the largest shareholder in BGI's holding company,[7] in 2019 his net worth was estimated by Forbes to be US$1.2 billion.

[8][9] In January 2020 he travelled to Wuhan to set up a situation room tackling the COVID-19 disease outbreak, helping coordinate the development of diagnostic tests and a 2000-sq-meter emergency detection laboratory built in 5 days.

[10] Devoted to fitness and believing health and longevity to be the first priority of BGI,[11] he has climbed and skied on some of the highest mountains in the world, including summiting Mount Everest.