On September 23, 2019, the Third China-Ecuador Joint Committee Meeting on Intergovernmental Cooperation in Science and Technology was held in Quito. The meeting was co-chaired by Huang Wei, Vice-Minister of Science and Technology of China, and Lourdes Cruz, Deputy Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Innovation of the Secretariat for Higher Education, Science Technology and Innovation of Ecuador. Aldo Maino, Deputy Secretary of State for Higher Education of the Secretariat for Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation of Ecuador, attended and addressed the meeting. The Chinese Embassy in Ecuador, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and universities, technology companies and science parks with active cooperation from both countries were represented at the meeting.

Vice Minister Huang Wei said that the Chinese government has put science, technology and innovation (STI) at the core of the overall development of the country and is committed to building China into an innovative country. He noted that in recent years China had significantly improved its STI capabilities and that China and Ecuador share the same understanding of the importance of STI in supporting economic and social development. He remarked that the Chinese side attached great importance to developing science and technology cooperation with Ecuador. In his meeting with Ecuadorian President Moreno in December 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the two sides should engage in exchanges in all fields at all levels, including high-level exchanges, and encourage people-to-people and sci-tech links. Vice Minister Huang Wei remarked that this meeting was an important measure to deliver on the agreement reached by the two heads of state and that the two sides should take the meeting as an opportunity to enrich bilateral cooperation in science and technology on the basis of existing work, select future directions of cooperation, and promote China-Ecuador STI cooperation to bear fruits as early as possible.

Deputy Secretary of State Lourdes Cruz said that there is a good foundation for science and technology cooperation between Ecuador and China and the Ecuadorian side is willing to further practical cooperation with China in the fields of biodiversity, agriculture, ICT and intelligent manufacturing through exchanges of science and technology personnel and joint research, so as to contribute to the progress of science and technology and the improvement of people‘s livelihood in the two countries. Deputy Secretary of State Aldo Maino expressed his appreciation of China’s achievements in the field of STI and hoped that the competent science and technology authorities of the two countries could maintain friendly exchanges and build a enabling platform for bilateral STI cooperation.

Representatives of the two sides reviewed existing achievements of cooperation and exchanged in-depth views centering on Chinese and Ecuadorian STI policies, future modes of science and technology cooperation and other topics. After the meeting, the two sides signed the minutes of the joint committee meeting. To further promote China-Ecuador STI cooperation, the two sides renewed the inter-agency cooperation agreement (last signed in 2015) and established the framework of science and technology cooperation for the next five years.