On October 14, 2019, Chinese Minister of Science and Technology led a delegation to Germany. During the visit, Minister Wang Zhigang attended the China-Germany Conference on Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation in Berlin and delivered a keynote speech. Vice President Hou Jianguo of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Vice President Wang Chengwen of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), President Jörg Hacker of German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Vice President Reinhard Hüttl of the German National Academy of Science and Engineering, Director Volker Haucke of the Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology and Professor Joachim Schachtner, President of Clausthal University of Technology addressed the conference.
About 200 experts and representatives from government, industry, universities, research institutes of both countries attended the meeting. They reviewed the history and looked into the future of the bilateral cooperation in science, technology and innovation(STI), held thematic discussions on interagency cooperation and delivery of joint projects and made suggestions for closer ties and networks in STI.
In his keynote speech, Minister Wang Zhigang said that an important goal of the conference was to follow up on the agreement of the heads of state on STI cooperation and strive to promote the partnership in multiple fields. He affirmed the achievements made by the two sides in the 40 years since the signing of the Inter-governmental Agreement on Science and Technology Cooperation, saying that bilateral STI cooperation has shown closer engagement with the industry, high enthusiasm for regional cooperation and close exchanges of researchers. Minister Wang Zhigang also talked about China‘s STI and said that China will embrace the visions“innovative, coordinated, green and open developmental that is for everyone”and deepen its opening up and cooperation. He made three proposals for the future China-Germany STI cooperation: 1. Strengthen alignment between development strategies and make top-level designs for future development; 2. tap into the potential of STI cooperation and complement each other; and 3. strengthen STI bases and collaborate to promote research commercialization. Minister Wang Zhigang said that China is willing to work with Germany for a win-win future.
At the conference, Vice President Hou Jianguo and Vice President Wang Chengwen talked about recent developments at CAS and NSFC, and their engagements with German partners in basic research, joint projects and personnel exchanges. They also shared their visions about the future of China-Germany STI cooperation. President Hacker and other German representative echoed the views of their Chinese counterparts, appreciated China-Germany STI cooperation, presented research progress at their respective institutions, and expressed their willingness to maintain good ties with China in basic research, applied science, policy consultation and personnel training, and cope with challenges facing the international community.
Chinese Ambassador to Germany Wu Ken and Vice Governor of Liaoning Province Lu Ke attended the conference.