The 2015 Review Meeting on Technical Training Program for Developing Countries & 2016 Training Session was held in Wuhan, Hubei Province from March 16 to 18. About 150 representatives from the organizing and management units of 2015 and 2016 training program attended the meeting.
Dr. Yin Jun, Counselor of the Department of International Cooperation and Dr. Zhao Xinli, Deputy Director General of China Science and Technology Exchange Center, addressed the event. Counselor Yin made a comprehensive introduction and systemic deployment of the overall situation and requirements on S&T diplomacy and China’s S&T assistance policy and primary missions. In line with the spirit of an important speech delivered by President Xi Jinping at the High-Level Roundtable on South-South Cooperation, DDG Zhao raised specific demands for the training program toward developing countries in the next period, namely enhancing coordination, improving the quality of training courses, stepping up publicity efforts and strengthening follow-up services. An official at the Division of General Affairs and Planning, Department of International Cooperation, made a brief statement of their work in 2015 and laid out the tasks in 2016. Du Yun, Deputy Director General of Science and Technology Department of Hubei Province, attended and addressed the meeting.
Several organizers of the 2015 training program including China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group, Shandong Academy of Sciences, National Research Institute for Rural Electrification and International Center on Small Hydro Power, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine and Hubei Provincial Seed Group shared their fruits and experience gained from organizing the training.
During the meeting, the participants conducted extensive exchanges and discussions about the priorities and various links of the training program. At a training session on March 18, China Science and Technology Exchange Center presented a special training on the management procedures and information management system designed of the training program.
MOST sponsored 48 technical training sessions in 2015. More than 1,000 experts, scholars, S&T department officials and technical professionals from over 70 developing countries and regions received training and promoted technologies these countries need, such as agriculture & forestry, information and manufacturing technology, new energy, resource and environment, medical and health service. The training program has become quite popular in developing countries.
On September 26, 2015, President Xi Jinping chaired the High-Level Roundtable on South-South Cooperation, which was jointly organized by China and the United Nations. Xi raised suggestions to advance South-South cooperation, and announced that in the next five years, China will provide 120,000 opportunities and 150,000 scholarships for citizens of other developing countries to receive training and education in China, and help nurture 500,000 professional technicians for the rest of the developing world. In a bid to implement President Xi’s solemn commitments to the developing world and do a good job in technical training as a form of assistance to these countries, MOST will hold 55 training sessions in 2016, up 14.7% from 2015. In order to further improve the quality of training, increase international influence and deepen our friendship with developing countries, MOST plans to launch two overseas pilot training programs.
