On April 16, 2019, the 3rd China-Uruguay Joint Committee Meeting on Science and Technology Cooperation was held in Beijing. Wang Zhigang, Minister of Science and Technology of China, and María Julia Muñoz, Minister of Education and Culture of Uruguay co-chaired the meeting. The meeting was attended by more than 30 delegates from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China Science and Technology Exchange Center and China Rural Technology Development Center, as well as from the Ministry of Education and Culture of Uruguay, the Presidential Palace of Uruguay, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, the University of the Republic of Uruguay, the University of Science and Technology of Uruguay, the Pasteur Institute of Uruguay, the National Institute of Agricultural Research of Uruguay and other government departments, universities and research institutions.

Minister Wang Zhigang said that China and Uruguay are good partners and friends for mutually beneficial cooperation. He noted that during their meeting in 2016, the two heads of state reached agreement on promoting cooperation in the fields of culture, education, science and technology and that cooperation in science, technology and innovation (STI) plays an increasingly important role in developing bilateral relations between the two countries. Minister Wang Zhigang remarked that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the significant role of STI in boosting economic and social progress and improving people‘s livelihood. With growing expenditure on research in recent years, China has markedly improved its STI capabilities and accomplished remarkable achievements in manned spaceflight, iron-based superconductivity, neutrino communications, high-speed rail, 5G and other fields. He said that China and Uruguay share the same ideas on STI, and hoped that the two sides will explore more ways of cooperation in light of their development strategies, the Belt and Road Initiative and the idea of community with shared future for mankind, expand and deepen bilateral cooperation in STI, produce substantive results in the areas of mutual interest, and make their due contributions to the science and technology progress of both countries and even the world.

Minister Muñoz said that although China and Uruguay are far away, they have deep friendship and that the Uruguayan leaders attach great importance to cooperation with China in science, technology and innovation. She said that the Uruguayan side appreciates China’s STI achievements, and is willing to respond positively to the Belt and Road Initiative and strengthen cooperation with China in the exchange of research personnel and the construction of joint laboratories in the fields of agricultural science and technology, marine economy and so on, so as to raise the level of science and technology development of the two countries, jointly cope with global challenges and seek happiness for the peoples of both countries.

Participants from both sides held in-depth discussion on STI policy planning, cooperation in agricultural science and technology, construction of joint laboratories, exchange of research personnel, and other topics. They said that they would make full use of the China-Latin America Platform for Promoting Cooperation in Agricultural Science and Technology, the Talented Young Scientist Program, the International Talent Exchange Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other mechanisms to further strengthen exchanges among research institutions, universities, and enterprises. The two sides reached agreement on future cooperation fields and agreed to promote pragmatic cooperation in marine resources, agricultural science and technology, biomedicine, nanotechnology, information and communication technology and mechatronics.

After the meeting, the two sides signed the Minutes of the 3rd China-Uruguay Joint Committee Meeting on Science and Technology Cooperation between the Government of the People‘s Republic of China and the Government of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay.