On December 24, 2021, the XII China-Cuba Sci-tech Mixed Commission Meeting on Intergovernmental Cooperation in Science and Technology was held via video link. Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang and Cuban Minister of Science, Technology and Environment Elba Rosa Pérez co-chaired the meeting and delivered keynote speeches. Representatives of relevant governmental agencies attended and addressed the meeting.
Minister Wang Zhigang said that China and Cuba are good friends, good comrades and good brothers. Over the 61 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, relations between the two countries have stood the test of international changes and provided a model of solidarity and cooperation among developing countries. This year, Chinese President Xi Jinping has talked twice on the phone with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, pointing the direction for deepening the special and friendly relations between the two parties and two countries. The meeting is an important step to follow up on the agreement of the two leaders and deepen cooperation in the field of science and technology. China and Cuba have a lot in common in the focus of their science and technology development plans and policies. Cooperation in science and technology plays a vital role in the development of bilateral relations and friendship between the two countries. Since the XI meeting of the Mixed Commission, the two sides have made progress in joint research, joint laboratories and other areas of practical cooperation. It is hoped that the two sides will continue to raise the quality and scale of sci-tech cooperation to promote the advance of science and technology in both countries and make life better for their people.
Minister Elba Rosa Pérez said that Cuba has continued to strengthen top-level design, emphasized sci-tech development in the national strategy, and attached high importance to promoting social prosperity and raising people's quality of life through technological research and transformation of sci-tech achievements. Cuba looks forward to learning from China’s experience and model of science and technology development. The meeting of the Mixed Commission has charted the course for future cooperation. The Cuban side is willing to work more closely with the Chinese side and hopes that the joint research projects will deliver more fruits to the benefit of the two countries.
Representatives of the two sides briefed each other on the policies and best practices of sci-tech development in their countries, discussed cooperation in key areas of shared interest, and reached consensus on future cooperation plans. Chinese Ambassador to Cuba Ma Hui and Cuban Ambassador to China Carlos Miguel Pereira attended the meeting and talked about promoting bilateral relations through science and technology cooperation.
After the meeting, the two ministers signed the minutes of the meeting.
The meeting was also joined by representatives of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Chinese Embassy in Cuba, the Cuban Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment, the Cuban Academy of Sciences, the Pasture and Forage Research Institute and the Cuban Embassy in China.
