On Monday, an official from the UK Department of Trade and
Industry said that his country's scientific cooperation with China
will be deepened by holding a series of conferences or
workshops.
Lord Sainsbury, UK minister for science and innovation, was
speaking at the opening session of the two-day
UK-China High Technology Forum, the third event of its
kind.
Scientists from both nations will have additional opportunities
to conduct exchanges as China's rapid economic growth and
scientific development continues, he noted.
Through the China-UK Scientific Park program that was launched
in 2003, Chinese high-tech firms have entered the UK to develop and
commercialize their technologies, according to the Ministry of
Science and Technology's Department for International
Cooperation.
Sources from the department said the ministry and the energy
company BP have signed a memorandum of cooperation for building
hydrogen stations to support the use of fuel cell-powered vehicles,
powered by cleaner fuels.
Sainsbury said that cooperation in space has also been
initiated, such as in air-to-surface observation for
environmental-monitoring.
He added the UK is working with other countries, including
China, on technological standards that are important to world
trade.
During a plenary session yesterday, Huang Xing, director of the
China Science and Technology Exchange Center and head of China-EU
Science and Technology Cooperation Promotion Center, said China is
willing to further cooperate with the UK in information and
communications.
He said business-to-business cooperation should constitute the
bulk of bilateral scientific exchange to make high-tech cooperation
more substantial.
Barry Furr, chief scientist from the Project Evaluation Group of
international pharmaceutical company Astra Zeneca, said there is
potential for cooperation in the development of medicines, clinical
research, genetic studies and in chemistry, because China has good
expertise in these fields.
He said his team will be visiting major universities in China to
seek collaborative partners.
(China Daily January 18, 2005)