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Minister Wang Zhigang Meets with German Minister of Education and Research Anja Karliczek

On November 4, 2019, Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang, met with the visiting German Federal Minister of Education and Research Anja Karliczek during the Second China International Import Expo in Shanghai. 
Minister Wang Zhigang cited President Xi Jinping as saying that innovation-driven development is essential to the sustained growth of the world economy. He noted that all countries in the world should take science, technology and innovation as an important pillar for their own development and cooperation with other countries. He said that this was our second time to meet within half a month and this was to implement the important consensus reached by the heads of state of the two countries, strengthen communication and connectivity, and contribute more to comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Germany. Minister Wang Zhigang pointed out that the intergovernmental agreement on science and technology signed in 1978 laid a solid foundation for cooperation between the two countries. He noted that it’s encouraging to see the the evolving ideas, fields, priorities and achievements  of cooperation between the two nations. He said that in the new era, the two countries should also make new headway in science and innovation cooperation, open up more channels and expand cooperation to more new areas, enhance understanding and mutual trust, enhance IPR protection, and make better use of the creation of knowledge for the benefit of mankind. To this end, Minister Wang Zhigang put forward three suggestions: 1. give full play to the role of the China-Germany Joint Committee on Science and Technology Cooperation and other mechanisms to promote practical project cooperation in various fields; 2. consolidate the foundation of science, technology and innovation, and promote cooperation in basic research such as quantum physics, AI and life science; and 3. strengthen the two-way exchange mechanism between scientists of both sides, especially young scientists. Minister Wang Zhigang extended his invitation to Minister Karliczek to visit China once again in the future. 
Minister Anja Karliczek highly praised China‘s achievements in development over the past 40 years and its great contribution to the world’s poverty alleviation, and echoed Minister Wang Zhigang‘s views and suggestions. She said that the German side is willing to further enhance trust between different cultural backgrounds, promote scientific freedom, address global challenges together, and strengthen cooperation in the fields of environment and climate change, antibiotic resistance and so on. Minister Anja Karliczek thanked the Chinese side for facilitating the activities of German research institutions in China and said that the German side is willing to promote cooperation between Chinese and German research institutions and enterprises, set standards together, strengthen IPR protection, and increase researcher mobility between the two countries.
Ye Dongbai, Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Zhang Quan, Director-General of the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission, and German Ambassador to China Clemens von Goetze attended the meeting.