On June 12th of 2016, Yin Hejun, Vice Minister of Science and Technology, respectively met with Muhammad Aimal Marjan, Afghani Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology; Mohamed Ashmalee, Maldivian Finance Minister of State for Finance and Treasury; Shiva Lal Thapa, Nepali Minister of Science and Technology; Susil Premajayanth, Sri Lankan Minister of Science, Technology and Research; and Rana Tanvir Hussain, Pakistani Minister of Science and Technology on the sidelines of the Second Forum on China-South Asia Technology Transfer & Collaborative Innovation held in Kunming, Yunnan.

Science ministers of those 5 countries spoke highly of China’s S&T achievements and praised China for the Partnership Program and important measures taken by the Chinese side to promote collaborative innovation. The ministers believed that the Partnership Program will take regional S&T cooperation to a new stage of stable, fast and pragmatic development. The ministers said that to develop S&T and their economies, their countries will actively take part in various collaborative projects under the framework of the Partnership Program and expedite new progress in bilateral cooperation.