Opening remarks at the eighth “Italy-China Science, Technology and Innovation Week” in Beijing were made by the Minister of Education, Universities and Research, Valeria Fedeli and the Chinese Minister of Science and Technology, Wan Gang. The event is held on alternate years in the two countries to foster dialogue on technological innovation and scientific research.
Italian and Chinese scientists, technologists and business people will meet during the week to create scientific and commercial partnership opportunities, encourage the export of new technology and industrial processes to China and attract Chinese investment in Italy. The Italian delegation to China included the President of the Italian Space Agency, Roberto Battiston, and the President of the National Research Council, Massimo Inguscio.
A packed programme – with more than 30 seminars and 600 face-to-face meetings – included a meeting of the joint committee on scientific and technological cooperation under the bilateral agreement between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). The Italian delegation was led by Fabrizio Nicoletti, Director General for Innovation and Research. Joint research projects funded by the two countries – through cooperation between the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of the Environment in Italy – were given a medium-term check at the meeting, and negotiations began on the terms for the call for projects which will be published in 2018.
Italy is also interested in consolidating relations with the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (NSFC), recently confirmed as having a central role in funding programmes on the basic sciences after the recent reform of the national research system in China.
On 13 November, the Italian ambassador to Beijing, Ettore Sequi, and the President of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Yang Wei, signed a joint declaration implementing the MAECI-NSFC Memorandum of Understanding signed in Beijing in November 2015. The new text and definitive list of joint projects that may get access to co-financing – three on new materials, one on environmental issues, four on health and two on physics – were drawn up by expert commissions from the two countries who chose the winning projects from 115 proposals.
