On September 6, 2018, Minister Wang Zhigang of the Ministry of Science and Technology met in Beijing with a Swiss delegation led by Johann Schneider-Ammann, Member of the Swiss Federal Council and Minister of Economic Affairs, Education and Research. The two sides exchanged in-depth views on jointly promoting cooperation in science, technology and innovation (STI) between China and Switzerland and supporting bilateral strategic partnership in innovation through STI.
Minister Wang Zhigang welcomed Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann and his delegation, pointing out that China and Switzerland have established the first strategic partnership symbolized by innovation. He said that the purpose of this meeting was to implement the consensus reached by heads of state of the two countries, combine China‘s innovation-driven development strategy with Switzerland’s innovation advantages, realize complementarity of advantages, and push China-Switzerland STI cooperation to a new level. Minister Wang Zhigang emphasized the great potential of cooperation between China and Switzerland and made concrete suggestions for raising the level of bilateral STI cooperation in the future. Minister Wang Zhigang said that the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology is willing to work with the Swiss side to engage universities, enterprises, research institutes and other entities in further promoting practical STI cooperation from the perspectives of basic research, applied research and technological innovation, so as to effectively support the economic and social development of the two countries.
Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann echoed Minister Wang Zhigang’s views and suggestions. He pointed out that China is Switzerland’s most important partner and that Switzerland wishes to congratulate China on its remarkable achievements in the field of STI in recent years. Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann briefed the Chinese host on Switzerland‘s STI development and research system and said that his country is willing to carry out various forms of cooperation with China in areas of mutual interest, such as personnel exchange, joint research, transformation of research findings and innovation and entrepreneurship.
Both sides agreed on formulating top-level design for the next step of China-Switzerland STI cooperation and effectively implement the strategic partnership in innovation between the two countries. 
Present at the meeting were Director General Ye Yujiang of the Department of Basic Research, Deputy Director General Chen Linhao and Deputy Inspector Zheng Shimin of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Science and Technology.