On January 18, 2018, the Fourth Session of China-Serbia Inter-governmental Committee on Science and Technology Cooperation was held in Beijing. Huang Wei, Vice Minister of Science and Technology of China, and Vladimir Popović, State Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia, co-chaired the meeting.
During the meeting, Vice-Minister Huang Wei briefed the Serbian side on the strategic plan adopted at the 19th CPC National Congress on accelerating the building of an innovative country, and China‘s policy on science, technology and innovation, its current development and China’s participation in relevant international cooperation, especially the four action plans on science, technology and innovation proposed at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and the China-CEEC Conference on Innovation Cooperation held within the framework of“16+1 Cooperation”. The Serbian side expressed its admiration for China’s achievements in science, technology and innovation, introduced its own R&D and innovation policy, scientific research management system, major organizations involved in scientific research and innovation activities and the achievements made. It also gave a briefing on its participation in international cooperation, especially in the Horizon 2020 of the EU.
Both sides agreed that scientific and technological cooperation is a key component of China-Serbia relations. The Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People‘s Republic of China and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia on Jointly Funding Sino-Serbian Scientific Research Cooperation Projects signed in 2016 opened a new chapter for China-Serbia science and technology cooperation. The two sides should take full advantage of the coordinating and guiding role of the Inter-governmental Committee on Science and Technology Cooperation, and seize the opportunity provided by the Belt and Road Initiative and “16+1 cooperation” to deepen scientific and technological innovation cooperation, strengthen the exchange of science and technology personnel, explore the possibility of holding joint seminars, and encourage young Serbian scientists to come to China for short-term research through the“Talented Young Scientist Program”; implement the first batch of joint R&D projects with ground-breaking significance, promote the building of joint research centers and joint laboratories in the fields of biomedicine, agriculture and food, and develop a long-term cooperation platform; encourage cooperation between industrial clusters from both sides, and work for win-win results based on mutual complementarity; promote scientific and technological cooperation in broader areas, at deeper levels and with more extensive participation, and make new contributions to the development of bilateral relations.

The two sides reviewed the implementation of the projects approved at the third session of the committee, discussed and approved the first batch of 6 bilateral inter-governmental R&D projects and 19 personnel exchange projects of the fourth regular session, which covered agriculture and food technology, biomedicine, environmental protection, material science, robotics, renewable energy and other fields.
After the meeting, the two sides signed the Protocol of the Fourth Session of China-Serbia Inter-governmental Committee on Science and Technology Cooperation.