BEIJING,
Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- China and the Netherlands renewed a scientific research
program on Thursday to address scientific challenges brought on by climate
change, energy security and food safety.
Through
peer evaluation, "Food and Agriculture" has been selected as the key
cooperative area for 2012.
The
three-year Joint Scientific Thematic Research Program (JSTRP) was established
in 2009 after the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic
of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) signed Memoranda of
Understanding (MOU) with the Dutch government in a bid to enhance scientific
cooperation between the institutions of the two countries.
Halbe
Zijlstra, state secretary of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of
the Netherlands, said, "China and the Netherlands will extend the program
by another three years, since the interim evaluation shows the program is the
right way to intensify relations between Chinese and Dutch researchers."
Lu
Yonglong, chief of the Bureau of International Cooperation under CAS, said,
"The projects included in the JSTRP are very practical and give full play
to the comparative advantages of both sides."
The first
phase of the JSTRP subsidizes projects of environmental recovery and bio-mass
energy development.
Cooperative
projects already underway include water resource management on the Pearl River
and the Rhine, the two countries' major water sources closely linked to
people's survival and development.
Also, Lu
said the JSTRP was unique because it provided "many chances for doctoral
students to participate."
"It
could serve as a platform for the potential young scientists of the two
countries to brainstorm with each other and share their innovative ideas,"
Lu said.
China has
intensified its governmental cooperation in science and technology with
European countries in recent years.
China's
State Councilor Liu Yandong on Sunday encouraged the country's scientists to
enhance cooperation with their foreign counterparts to make more scientific
innovations.
Statistics
from China's Science Ministry shows that China has built scientific cooperation
relations with 152 countries and regions, and dispatched 141 science diplomats
to 46 countries.
Editor: Mu Xuequan
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.