Science and Innovation in the Golden Era

What better way to kick off our new SIN China blog than with a look at Xi Jinping’s high profile State Visit to the UK last week. Science and Innovation was a key element. In addition to Royals, carriages and banquets, Xi visited Imperial College and the National Graphene Institute at Manchester University.

The UK and China have an excellent partnership in science and innovation, as two key Government to Government agreements demonstrate.   During the Number 10 press conference, the Prime Minister and President Xi announced a new fund to tackle anti-microbial resistance (AMR). Discussions on the fund ran until the last minute, so it was great to have an announcement in a critical area. Inaction will cost many lives due to the growing number of untreatable infections and presents a significant cost to the world’s economy. The Research Councils announced a new Newton programme on AMR with the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) worth £9m.

During Number 10 talks, the Prime Minister and President Xi witnessed the signing of a new agreement on technology innovation in Strategic Emerging Industries. I was delighted this important collaboration was given such a high profile. Following months of scoping activities led by my team to identify synergies, this new collaboration will support joint development of the technologies and markets of the future. We will focus on new energy, new energy vehicles, life sciences, satellite applications and ICT.

We kick started Strategic Emerging Industries activity with a SIN organised workshop on new energy at the Ministerial led Energy Dialogue, alongside the State Visit.  I attended the solar and marine energy focused workshop, bringing together researchers, universities and businesses. The Chinese delegation was led by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s ‘economics super ministry’ and included strong industry respresentation: BYD, China National Nuclear Corporation, Huawei and Sinopec. It was interesting that key Chinese companies are considering diversifying into renewables. The workshop, expertly chaired by Campbell Keir, UKTI Director Energy and Infrastructure, identified cooperation areas and desire for a platform linking needs and capabilities across countries.

Beyond the formal talks and agreement between the European Marine Energy Centre and Ocean University of China to develop a test site for marine energy technologies, we took the delegation on site visits.

We went to Leighton Buzzard to visit Europe’s largest battery; the Smarter Network Storage project is run by UK Power Networks. This battery technology is trialling new energy storage techniques to reduce the peaks in supply and demand on the grid. We also visited Imperial College Energy Futures lab to demonstrate UK research capability. Both visits generated a lot of interest and the high visibility vests and hard hats were, as always, popular.

These new partnerships are just the tip of the iceberg. A large number of new collaborations were launched to strengthen research and development partnerships across a range of fields.   Science and innovation truly is an important part of the bilateral relationship, and will only continue to grow in the golden era.

Do get in touch with me if you are interested in working with China. The Science and Innovation Network is here to support you.