China and EU strengthen materials research cooperation
EU Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin and the Chinese minister for science and technology, Xu Guanhua are signing a cooperation agreement in the field of material sciences, relating to participation in both the Fifth and Sixth Framework programmes on 22 October. The agreement aims to promote Chinese participation in European projects on material sciences as well as European participation in Chinese projects in the same area and to support training and information activities as well as the exchange of scientific and technological information on material sciences. China has huge resources in raw materials and is one of the biggest producers worldwide. Areas covered by the agreement include basic generic materials technologies, improvement of the limits and the sustainability of materials, advanced functional materials, sustainable production in the chemical industry and nanotechnologies. Mr Busquin and Mr Xu Guanhua are also discussing the future of Chinese-EU scientific cooperation within the context of the European research area (ERA) and the Sixth Framework programme (FP6) on 22 October as well as details of the China-EU science and technology forum, due to take place in Beijing in 2002. In spite of a China-EU agreement signed nearly two years ago, the current level of cooperation between the two sets of researchers is not that high. Less than a dozen European projects currently involve Chinese partners although six new projects have recently been selected and 17 are due to be signed soon. EU researchers are, however, only participating in one Chinese project. In order to promote information of the European research programmes in China, a science and technology office was recently set up in Beijing. The office is financed partly by the European Commission and partly by the Chinese ministry of science and technology. A recent meeting between those responsible for the implementation of the EU-China scientific and technological agreement, four thematic priorities were also identified as a way to strengthen cooperation: environment; biotechnology, including science and society issues; nanotechnologies and information technologies.