（Photo by Liu Daming/MOSTIC）
On July 2, 2018, Minister Wang Zhigang of the Ministry of Science and Technology met with a delegation led by Director General Li Yong of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
Minister Wang Zhigang briefed the UNIDO delegation on the latest developments in science, technology and innovation in China since the 18th Party Congress, pointing out that the Chinese government attaches great importance to cooperation with the United Nations System. He highly recognized the positive role of UNIDO in China‘s industrialization. As China enters a new era of development, it now sees innovation as the primary driving force for development, with resources-driven industrial development giving way to innovation-driven industrial development, as well illustrated in the case of intelligent manufacturing. Centering on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UNIDO has actively promoted green, inclusive and sustainable industrialization. Minister Wang Zhigang pointed out that China and UNIDO share common views on industrial development and have the basis for cooperation.
Director General Li Yong echoed Minister Wang Zhigang’s views. After briefly reviewing the cooperation between UNIDO and the Chinese government, he pointed out that energy conservation and environmental protection, green industry and food safety are currently the three priority fields for UNIDO, saying that China’s new industrialization is a core theme of the“inclusive and sustainable industrial development”promoted by UNIDO. He expressed the hope that the two sides could strengthen bilateral cooperation in the fields of science and innovation policy and strategy, eco-technology parks, and technological infrastructure development and utilization.
With agreement reached on boosting pragmatic cooperation and strengthening personnel exchanges and training centering around the Belt and Road Initiative, South-South cooperation platform building and China-Africa cooperation, the two sides jointly signed the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People‘s Republic of China and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization on Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation.
Present at the meeting were Ye Dongbai, Director-General of International Cooperation, Qin Yong, Director-General of High-tech Development and Industrialization and Wu Yuanbin, Director-General of Science and Technology for Social Development, as well as Zou Ciyong, Director of the Department of Programmes, Partnerships and Field Integration of UNIDO, Ralf Bredel, UNIDO Representative to China and Ma Jian, UNIDO Deputy Representative to China.
