On June 23rd, CECO successively met with visiting VTT( Technical Research Center of Finland )and Vinnova (The Swedish Government Agency for Innovation System) delegations in Beijing.

As the biggest multitechnological applied research organization in Northern Europe, VTT provides high-end technology solutions and innovation services to worldwide customers. Headed by Customer Manager Matti Nieminen, VTT delegation expressed its willingness to team up with CECO so to identify more cooperative opportunities to serve the thriving S&T development in China. They also presented CECO the project initiatives for Chinese participation and hope that CECO may help identify appropriate Chinese partners for their project proposals. CECO appreciated VTT’s initiatives of joining hands with CECO for deeper cooperation in the future, and expressed its commitment in bridging China-EU research community through facilitating partner search, China-EU S&T policy consulting, and S&T information exchange and updates. Both sides agreed to maintain frequent communication to seek next-step cooperation.

Vinnova delegation, headed by the Deputy Director Carl Wickman of Internal Collaboration and Networks, was received in CECO’s premises as the joint Bilat Silk project was ongoing. The CECO-Vinnova tie has been strengthened through the implementation of Bilat silk project. And both sides are seeking to move on further on the basis of a cooperative MoU to be discussed over Vinnova’s stay in China this time. During the meeting, Vinnova introduced CECO to its organizational structure and missions, and wished that the CECO-Vinnova cooperation would be incorporated into Sino-Swedish Governmental S&T Cooperation Framework so to have a broader platform for future joint work. CECO consented with Vinnova’s ideas and expressed CECO’s willingness to work towards the possibilities of framing the cooperation into the intergovernmental S&T discussion scheduled in upcoming November. The meeting, though brief, was concluded efficiently with hearty consent from both sides for the further cooperation.

By so far, CECO has one MoU-based European partner (APRE Italian Agency for the Promotion of European Research), and maintains close contact with Vinnova (The Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems) and FFG (The Austria Research Promotion Agency), and more discussion on cooperation with VTT is also ongoing. CECO, in spirit of fueling the China-EU S&T community exchange, has been expanding its contacts with its European counterparts ever since its establishment. And June 23rd has seen such an effort of moving  CECO-VTT and CECO-Vinnova collaboration one step forward.