China's cooperation with Scotland on scientific innovation enjoys a bright future as the latter attaches great importance to the issue with much hospitality, said a Chinese top academic on Friday.

"The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) will enhance and deepen the cooperation with Scotland, taking the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) as a bridge," Bai Chunli, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Xinhua after he was admitted to Honorary Fellowship of the Society, the RSE's highest category of Fellowship.

Bai, a well-known chemist and leading scientist in nano-science, hailed the RSE's effective measures to bring together scientists and businesses, Scotland's newly established innovation Centers, and the cooperation between the CAS and the RSE through workshops and projects on information, large data and biotechnology together with the Chinese universities.

Addressing the Honorary fellowship awarding ceremony earlier, Bai said: "Scotland has a long tradition for innovation. The steam engine, bicycle, penicillin, and telephone, items we take for granted but could not live without are the brainchild of Scottish inventors."

"With such great tradition and passion for innovation from both sides, I hope that our scientists and experts would join hands and put their ideas together to achieve something remarkable," he added.

Dame Burnell, the RSE president and a Northern Irish astrophysicist, described the cooperation between the two sides as "fantastic", expecting further collaboration and coordination.

Lord Wilson of Tillyorn, former Governor of Hong Kong and former RSE president, reviewed the cooperation between the two sides in the past and congratulated Bai on his Honorary Fellowship at the RSE.

Established in 1783, the RSE currently has around 1,600 Fellows, including 70 Honorary Fellows (who are members of the Royal House or persons eminently distinguished in any subject within the RSE disciplinary domains) and 73 Corresponding Fellows (persons who have attained high international standing in any subject within the RSE disciplinary domains, and who are not normally resident in Britain).

As Scotland's National Academy of Science & Letters, the RSE Fellowship includes people from a wide range of disciplines: science and technology, arts, humanities, social science, business and public service. (Xinhua)