The Royal Society of Chemistry celebrated the renewal of a cooperation agreement with the State Administration for Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) - a division of the Chinese Government - with an event at Burlington House in London.
As part of a wider Chinese governmental initiative to enhance the global impact of Chinese science and of their higher education institutions, the Royal Society of Chemistry and SAFEA provide funding for a visiting researchers programme.
This encourages academics from the UK to visit Chinese universities to share best practice, advice Chinese researchers on presenting their research to an international audience and to stimulate collaboration between UK and Chinese institutions.
The signing ceremony celebrated the success of the previous five years and sees SAFEA and the RSC commit to continue and strengthen the programme through the renewal of a memorandum of understanding.
Professor Annie Bligh from the University of Westminster was the first UK-based academic to receive funding through the SAFEA and Royal Society of Chemistry partnership and has visited China twice to give lectures at partner universities.
The event included Frazer Macdonald, Head of Asia-Pacific at the UK Government's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Ms Zhang Yali, Deputy Administrator, SAFEA, who signed the memorandum of understanding with Royal Society of Chemistry Chief Executive, Dr Robert Parker.
