On June 18, 2019, the Third China-Brazil High-level Dialogue on Science, Technology and Innovation was held in Brasilia. Li Meng, Vice Minister of Science and Technology of China, and Carlos Alberto Baptistucci, Deputy Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC) of Brazil, co-chaired the meeting. Yang Wanming, Chinese Ambassador to Brazil, attended the event and delivered a speech. Brazilian Deputy Secretaries of science, technology, innovation and communications Paulo Alvim and Antônio Neto and Ambassador Achilles Zaluar, Director of the Department for Technology Promotion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil took part in the dialogue. More than 40 delegates from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beihang University, the National Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology, the International SSL Alliance, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture Co. Ltd., as well as MCTIC, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil and other governmental agencies, businesses, universities and research institutes participated in the dialogue. After the meeting, Júlio Semeghini, Executive Secretary of Brazil‘s Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications, met with the Chinese delegation.

Vice Minister Li Meng pointed out that the Chinese government places STI at the core of overall national development, makes it a strategic support for building a modern economic system, and promotes changes in quality, efficiency and growth drivers through STI to achieve high-quality economic development. He noted that China’s innovation is in an open environment and that there is strong complementarity and great potential between China and Brazil in STI cooperation. Vice Minister Li Meng said that in accordance with President Xi Jinping’s requirements for developing China-Brazil relations into a model of solidarity and cooperation among developing countries and an importance force for promoting world peace and development, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology will actively implement the consensus on cooperation reached by the China-Brazil High-level Committee on Coordination and Cooperation, continuously deepen STI cooperation with Brazil, and further promote pragmatic cooperation between the two sides in development of joint laboratories, science parks and exchanges between young scientists. He remarked that in areas such as nanotechnology, space science and technology, clean energy and agricultural science and technology where good progress has been made in bilateral cooperation, the two countries should facilitate cooperation in the fields of priorities such as IoT, ICT and new materials. Vice Minister Li Meng hoped that the two sides will strengthen their systematic planning, focus on refining results, create a favorable ecosystem, and contribute to economic transformation and livelihood improvement of the two countries through STI cooperation.

Deputy Vice Minister Carlos Alberto Baptistucci welcomed the Chinese delegation and stressed that the current Brazilian administration attaches great importance to transforming science and technology into productive force and will provide new impetus for improving the quality of economic development through STI, while committed to improving the well-being of the people. He said that the Brazilian government attaches great importance to engagement with China and is willing to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of STI with China, especially under the framework of the Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Innovation of the China-Brazil High-Level Coordination and Cooperation Committee, as well as to raise the level of science and technology development of the two countries and address challenges together.

Delegates from the two sides discussed the current policies of STI in China and Brazil. Brazilian delegates talked about Brazil’s National Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation 2016-2022 and the action plans which have been launched based on the strategy. Chinese delegates made presentations on the STI policies which the Chinese government has implemented for improving the science and technology evaluation system, strengthening research integrity, optimizing the allocation of science and technology resources, promoting the commercialization of science and technology achievements and creating an institutional system in order to further push forward innovation-driven development.

The two sides reached agreement on cooperation in the fields of biotechnology, nanotechnology, smart city, renewable energy, AI, big data, space science and technology, agricultural science and technology, solid state lighting, climate change, ICT and electric vehicles, and proposed to formulate work plans, innovate management mechanisms and make full use of resources to strengthen exchanges between science and technology personnel, promote pragmatic cooperation between businesses and academia, and contribute to the China-Brazil comprehensive strategic partnership.

After the meeting, the two sides issued a Joint Statement on the Third China-Brazil High-level Dialogue on Science, Technology and Innovation.