The European Union and China on Wednesday launched the China-EU
Science and Technology Year, which will feature an array of
activities aimed at promoting cooperation in these key fields.
"China is quickly becoming a major global player in science and
technology. We face many of the same challenges for the future, and
research can play a part in facing them," said the EU Science and
Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik in a statement.
"I hope that the China-EU Science and Technology Year will
increase awareness in China and the EU about the benefits of
cooperation. This will usher in a new phase of our science and
research relationship," he said.
Chinese Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Wu Zhongze
said the China-EU Science and Technology Year was a major event in
China-EU sci-tech cooperation and in the two sides' overall
bilateral relations.
The activities in the coming 12 months will help promote the
strategic partnership between China and the EU, he added.
The activities will include conferences, seminars, forums and
exhibitions. Areas of cooperation will include health, energy,
environment, food and bio-technology.
(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2006)