More Information on EU-China S&T cooperation

China in the seventh Framework Programme

The EU's Framework Programme is the biggest research funding programme in the world. FP7 has a budget of 53 billion €. It is an instrument to strengthen the competitiveness of Europe, in support of EU policies, notably, the EU2020 strategy for ‘smart, sustainable and inclusive growth’. FP7’s main programme is ‘Cooperation’ which supports collaborative research projects with the participation of several research teams from different European Union member states and associated countries. Proposals are evaluated based on external peer-review, on the following criteria: scientific excellence, implementation and impact. FP7 also includes the ‘People’ programme where a number of ‘Marie Curie’ actions support researcher mobility and career development. The ‘Capacities’ programme and finally, the ‘Ideas’ programme, which supports the European Research Council. Researchers and research teams from China may participate in many areas of FP7. The China-European Union Science & Technology Cooperation Promotion Office (CECO) provides advice and guidance for Chinese participation in FP7.

Selected China-related FP7 projects:

Participation in China's National S&T Programmes

The Chinese national basic (973) and high-tech (863) research programmes are in principle open to EU partners, as part of the EU-China S&T agreement. These programmes issue calls for proposals widely noted in the Chinese research communities. Some Chinese institutions and programmes are truly open to international cooperation, including the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC) which has financial incentives for projects to establish international cooperation. The international cooperation offices in universities and institutions can be very helpful for establishing contacts. Other useful contacts are the Science and Technology Commissions in each Chinese province and in larger Chinese cities.

Key Resources

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