Photo by Liu Daming/MOSTIC
On September 18, 2018, the Eighth Session of the China-Slovakia Committee on Intergovernmental Cooperation in Science and Technology was held in Beijing. It was co-chaired by Ye Dongbai, Director General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) of China, and Jakub Birka, Deputy Director General of the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports of Slovakia.
At the meeting, Director General Ye Dongbai briefed the Slovakian side on the strategic plan made at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on speeding up building China into an innovative country, the institutional reform of MOST, and the status quo of China’s science, technology and innovation (STI) and engagement in international cooperation, especially the four STI action plans put forward at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and the China-Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) Science, Technology and Innovation Partnership Program launched at the 7th China-CEEC Leaders‘Meeting. The Slovakian side briefed the Chinese side on its R&D innovation policy and research management system, as well as on its international science and technology cooperation, especially its participation in EU Horizon 2020.
Both sides agreed that science and technology cooperation is an important part of the bilateral relations between China and Slovakia and that the Memorandum of Understanding Between the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China and the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports of the Slovakia Republic on Jointly Sponsoring China-Slovakia Science and Technology Cooperation Projects signed in 2017 is of pioneering significance and marks a new step in China-Slovakia STI cooperation. The two sides should give full play to the role of the China-Slovakia Committee on Intergovernmental Cooperation in Science and Technology in coordinating S&T cooperation between the two countries, take the Belt and Road Initiative and the “16+1 Cooperation” as an opportunity to boost close personnel exchanges in the field of science and technology, explore joint seminars and other events, and encourage young scientists from Slovakia to come to China for short-term research exchanges through the International Talented Young Scientists Program and participate in China’s international science and technology training workshops; implement the first group of joint research and development projects; promote the establishment of long-term cooperation platforms, such as joint research centers and laboratories in the fields of material science, ICT, and laser technology; and continue to strengthen cooperation and coordination in the field of STI under the”16+1” framework, push forward the establishment of China-CEEC Technology Transfer Center, and provide an effective platform for promoting business-academia partnership in various countries.
The two sides reviewed the implementation of the projects approved at the Seventh Session, and adopted the first batch of three joint R&D projects and 13 personnel exchange projects, involving agriculture and food technology, biomedicine, environmental protection, materials science, and ICT.
After the meeting, the two sides signed the Protocol of the Eighth Session of the Committee for Science and Technology Cooperation between the People’s Republic of China and the Slovak Republic.
Representatives from the Jiangsu Provincial Science and Technology Department, the Henan Provincial Science and Technology Department and Jiangsu Transnational Technology Transfer Center attended the meeting.
