On April 23, 2018, the 16th Regular Meeting of the China-Bulgaria Inter-governmental Committee on Science and Technology Cooperation was held in Sophia, capital of Bulgaria. The meeting was co-chaired by Huang Wei, Chinese Chairman of the Committee and Vice Minister of Science and Technology of China, and Ivan Dimov, Bulgarian Chairman of the Committee and Deputy Minister of Education and Science.

At the meeting, the Chinese side briefed the Bulgarian side on China’s science and technology development and relevant policies and latest development of international cooperation in science and technology and made an introduction to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and measures for the Chinese government to implement an innovation-driven development strategy. The Bulgarian side briefed the Chinese side on its research administration system, science and technology innovation and development, and international cooperation in science and technology. The two sides exchanged views thoroughly and reached broad agreement on deepening bilateral cooperation in science and technology innovation. The two sides agreed to sign a new inter-governmental agreement on science and technology cooperation in due course; steadily promote bilateral cooperation in joint R&D projects and co-fund the first group of 1-2 major projects; and foster close people-to-people exchanges in science and technology and in particular fully leverage Talented Young Scientist Program and continue to hold academic seminars in areas of common interest.

The two sides reviewed the status of implementation of the projects approved at the 15th Regular Meeting of the China-Bulgaria Inter-governmental Committee on Science and Technology Cooperation. Research institutions in the two countries have been engaged in in-depth collaboration in the fields of agriculture, biotechnology, forest cultivation, rural governance, new materials and laser technology, jointly published a number of papers, achieved collaborative results for commercialization, and jointly trained Master’s, doctoral and post-doctoral students. Both sides of the China-Bulgaria Inter-governmental Committee on Science and Technology Cooperation appreciated the results achieved. After the meeting, the Chinese and Bulgarian chairmen of the Committee signed the Protocol of the 16th Regular Meeting of the Committee on Science and Technology Cooperation between the People‘s Republic of China and the Republic of Bulgaria.   

Within the framework of the regular meeting, the two sides jointly organized China-Bulgaria Cooperation Forum on Rural Revitalization and Development. Vice Minister Huang Wei, Deputy Minister Dimov, Deputy Minister Vasileva of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry of Bulgaria, Chinese Ambassador to Bulgaria Zhang Haizhou, Vice President Wu Dan of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Vice President Ignatova, the Bulgarian Academy of Agricultural Sciences attended and addressed the opening ceremony. The Forum focused on key areas of China-Bulgaria cooperation in agriculture and food and featured in-depth discussions on bilateral technological progress, industrial development, future ways of cooperation and specific cooperation plans in the themes of aromatic plant research and development, grape and wine technology and industry development, protection and development strategies for rural ecological and cultural resources, sustainable development of agricultural environment and food safety. The way of cooperation and specific cooperation plan were discussed in an in-depth manner.

During the regular meeting, Vice Minister Huang also met with Lachezar Borisov, Deputy Minister of the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy. The two sides exchanged views on strengthening cooperation in science and technology innovation between the two countries. Both sides agreed to strengthen dialogue in the policy areas of promoting close links between industry, academia and research institutions, promoting scientific and technological results, and pushing forward enterprises’ independent innovation capacity building, support the exchanges, innovation and entrepreneurship of young talents in the two countries, promote the establishment of platforms for cooperation in science and technology innovation, and strengthen bilateral cooperation in science parks.

During their visit to Bulgaria, the delegation of the Ministry of Science and Technology visited the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and held discussions with Professor Hadjiivanov, Vice President of the Academy on pushing forward the establishment of long-term cooperative mechanisms between research institutions and the deepening of exchanges and cooperation between researchers of the two countries.