China and Europe have established longstanding and fruitful cooperation in the area of science & technology, since the signing of a Cooperation Agreement in 1998. This cooperation will be further advanced under the EU's 7th Framework Program for Research and Technological Development (FP7), sources with the European Commission Delegation said yesterday during a workshop on international science and technology cooperation in Beijing.

A workshop on international science and technology cooperation is held in Beijing on Jan.15, 2008.

Launched in 1984, the Framework Program is now the biggest research-funding program in the world and aims to support the bloc's competitiveness via strategic partnerships with third world countries. The current seventh framework will last until 2013, with a total duration of seven years and an increased budget of 53 billion euros.

According to the Agreement for S&T Cooperation between the EU and China, European and the Chinese programs are open to participation from China and the EU. Within the 6th Framework Program (2002-2006), Chinese participation was impressive. Around 300 Chinese institutes, universities and companies took part in nearly 200 projects, making China the second most active international partner in FP6 after Russia, according to figures provided at the workshop.

China is expected to participate even more in the current FP7, submitting 459 applications to the program out of the 5,100 submitted from non-EU countries and 87,500 in total.

Among the calls for proposals published under FP7, China has shown particular interest in a wide variety of topics, including transport planning and traffic information system in cities; CO2 capture and storage capacity building; foot-and-mouth disease; supporting coordination of national policies and activities on international S&T cooperation areas.

Xing Jijun (second left), director for Europe at the Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Science & Technology, attends the workshop on January 15, 2008.

An EU official illustrates FP7 in the workshop on January 15, 2008.

(China.org.cn by staff reporter Yuan Fang, January 16, 2008)