On 5 June 2016, the 7th China-US Innovation Dialogue was successfully held in Beijing. Dr. Wan Gang, Minister of Science and Technology of China, and Dr. John Holdren, Assistant to the US President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, co-chaired the meeting. Representatives of the relevant government departments, industries and academic communities from the two countries made speeches at the meeting.

In his speech, Minister Wan introduced the National Innovation-Driven Development Strategy Outline recently released by the Chinese government and the outcomes of the National Conference of Science and Technology Innovation held in Beijing. Minister Wan said that President Xi Jinping stated at the conference that innovation should be placed at a more important position, and that innovation has always been an important force for the advance of a country and a nation, and for the progress of human society. Minister Wan said that China and the US share consistent views about creating jobs, promoting long-term and stable economic growth and transforming government functions. As the most innovative country in today’s world, the US has always been a country of innovators. China and the US enjoy huge cooperation potential in innovation strategy, innovation policy exchange and the cultivation of innovation professionals. The two countries should therefore build strategic mutual trust and strengthen cooperation in science and technology innovation in order to contribute to the growth of China-US relations.

Dr. Holdren introduced the US innovation strategy released in October 2015. The updated innovation strategy is guided by the principles of promoting public-private cooperation and locating the professional minds of the society, including encouraging women participation in innovation, supporting the innovation and entrepreneurship endeavor of young people, and supporting research with high risks and high returns. The two countries share similar innovation strategies and face similar challenges. The greatest value of China-US Innovation Dialogue lies in the fact that it allows the two sides to better understand each other’s innovation policy through discussions and reinforces the foundation for cooperation on innovation policies. The exchange of best practices on innovation strategies can also help promote bilateral cooperation on science and technology innovation.

Government officials, entrepreneurs and experts from the two sides conducted a full exchange of views at the conference, and engaged in heated discussions on China-US National Innovation Strategies, building favorable Innovation ecosystem, small and medium enterprise innovation,  missions of innovation and the role of data in spurring innovation. Members from the expert group of China-US Innovation Dialogue also introduced the progress of their researches. The outcomes of the dialogue were published under the framework of the economic track of the 8th China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue.

From the Chinese side, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Zheng Zeguang, Vice Minister of Science and Technology Yin Hejun, Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology Feng Fei, Deputy International Trade Representative of the Ministry of Commerce Zhang Xiangchen, Deputy Commissioner of State Intellectual Property Office He Zhimin and representatives from the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission, State Food and Drug Administration and other government departments attended the conference. From the US side, Ambassador to China Max Baucus, Under Secretary of State Catherine Novelli, Director of US Trade and Development Agency Leocadia Zak and representatives of the Department of Treasury, Department of Commerce, Department of Energy, Office of the US Trade Representative and US Patent and Trademark Office attended the conference.

The government has always played a leading role in building the platform of China-US Innovation Dialogue, under which the representatives from government departments, industries and academic communities of the two countries could explore new opportunities of science and technology cooperation through exchange of ideas. The Innovation Dialogue also created a sound atmosphere and contributed positive outcomes to the top-level meetings of the two countries, which gave a strong boost to the growth of China-US relations.