On November 24th of 2008, LI Xueyong, Party Secretary and Vice-Minister of Science and Technology of China, and Deputy State Secretary for Education and Research under the Federal Department of Home Affairs of Switzerland, signed the Joint Statement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation between China and Switzerland in Bern. Chinese State Councilor LIU Yandong and President of the Swiss Confederation and the Minister of Home Affairs Pascal Couchepin attended the sighing ceremony.
   
According to the Joint Statement, the first session of the China-Switzerland S&T Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) is an important milestone of deepening S&T cooperation between the two countries. On the JCM held on November 21st, both sides decided to jointly support 19 joint research projects, covering the fields of life science, material science, environmental protection, medicine and energy. It was the first time in the history of China-Switzerland S&T cooperation to launch such projects, for which the Swiss Confederation initiated a 9-million Swiss Franc special fund on S&T cooperation with China. The signature of Joint Statement marked the official initiation of research projects on China-Switzerland S&T Cooperation.