In the afternoon of June 30, the inauguration ceremony of China-CEEC Innovation Cooperation Research Center was held in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. Dai Gang, Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Huo Yuzhen, Special Representative for China-CEEC Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Hua Wei, Vice Mayor of Ningbo Municipal Government, attended and addressed the event in both online and offline forms. Diplomatic envoys of a number of CEE countries in China as well as representatives of research institutes, think tanks, technology transfer centers and science parks of CEE countries jointly witnessed the inauguration of the Research Center on the “cloud”. During the event, the Research Center signed cooperation agreements with the Slovenia Innovation Center, Clarivate Analytics and the Center for Central and Eastern European Studies of Beijing Foreign Studies University.

　　The establishment of the China-CEEC Innovation Cooperation Research Center is a concrete initiative to implement the outcomes of the China-CEEC Summit in February 2021. The Center is built by Ningbo Science and Technology Bureau and Ningbo University of Technology under the guidance of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the stewardship of Ningbo Municipal Government. The Center is dedicated to building a China-CEEC innovation think tanks network based on the principle of extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefits, promoting dialogue on science and technology innovation policies, jointly discussing science, technology and innovation cooperation plans, serving innovation cooperation and technology transfer, promoting the interchange and integration of open innovation systems, and building a science and technology innovation community.