The 11th Meeting of the Mainland-Hong Kong Committee of Scientific and Technological (S&T) Cooperation was held in Guiyang, Guizhou province on August 16th, 2016. The meeting was addressed by Yin Hejun, the Committee’s Mainland Chair and Vice Minister of Science and Technology of China; and Nicholas Yang Wei-hsiung, the Committee’s Hong Kong Chair and Secretary for Innovation and Technology of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). More than 60 committee members from both sides attended the meeting.

At the meeting, member of the Committee reported on the progress of their work. The two sides deliberated on the 2015-2016 Work Report and the 2016-2017 Work Plan, listened to the opinions of various parties, and concluded with many insightful recommendations.

In 2004, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the former Hong Kong Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau signed an Agreement on the Establishment of the Mainland-Hong Kong Committee of Scientific and Technological Cooperation. In 2013, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Hong Kong Commerce and Economic Development Bureau renewed the Agreement. Mainland members of the Committee consist of representatives of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, the Liaison Office of the Central People‘s Government in the HKSAR, relevant administrative departments for science and technology, local science and technology bureaus, and other organizations. The Hong Kong side of the Committee includes representatives of the Innovation and Technology Bureau, the Innovation and Technology Commission, universities in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Productivity Council and other organizations. The establishment of this mechanism marks another important agreement reached between the mainland and Hong Kong following the signing of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) and has played an important role in strengthening S&T cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong. In recent years, the mechanism has accomplished a series of achievements in aligning Hong Kong’s S&T plans with national strategies, promoting Hong Kong researchers’ participation in national programs, facilitating the development of research platforms and bases in Hong Kong, encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship on both sides, and supporting regional S&T cooperation between Guangdong and Hong Kong and between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Since 2006, 475 researchers in Hong Kong have taken part in the research work of 162 projects under national programs, and 28 of them serve as project leaders in the programs. Under the mechanism, in Hong Kong both sides had established 16 partner laboratories for State key labs, 6 branch of national engineering centers and 3 partner bases of national high-tech industrialization bases.