Seventh Meeting of Mainland/Hong Kong Science and Technology Co-operation Committee Held

Sep 28, 2012     Email"> PrintText Size

The seventh meeting of the Mainland/Hong Kong Science and Technology Co-operation Committee was held in Hong Kong today (September 27).

The meeting was co-chaired by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, and the Vice-Minister of Science and Technology of the Central People's Government, Dr Cao Jianlin. Mr So also attended the joint plaque-unveiling ceremony of the Hong Kong National High-tech Industrialisation (Partner) Base For Green Technology and the National Engineering Research Center For Application Specific Integrated Circuit System (Hong Kong Branch).

Mr So said, "The innovation and technology measures announced during the visit of Vice-Premier Li Keqiang in Hong Kong last year focused on strengthening support for Hong Kong's development in innovation and technology through exploring new science and technology collaboration platforms between the Mainland and Hong Kong. Hong Kong Science Park and the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute obtained in last November and June this year respectively the consent of the State Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) to set up Hong Kong's first National High-techIndustrialisation (Partner) Base and the first Hong Kong branch of the Chinese National Engineering Research Center.These new achievements were made as a result of enhanced co-operation between research institutes on the two sides."

Mr So added, "We achieved significant progress in the development of Mainland and Hong Kong science and technology co-operation last year, with the completion of several initiatives to dovetail with the National 12th Five-Year Plan, including recommending 56 Hong Kong experts to participate in the National Science and Technology Programmes Expert Database, and the successful applications of Hong Kong universities for "National Basic Research Program of China" (973 Program) direct funding through their Mainland subsidiaries.

These significant initiatives have progressively brought Hong Kong research institutes and enterprises into the national innovation system."

Under the framework of the Mainland/Hong Kong Science and Technology Co-operation Committee, both sides will proactively implement the policy measures on science and technology announced by the Central Government in June this year to strengthen co-operation between the Mainland and Hong Kong, including encouraging Hong Kong research talents to participate in national science and technology programmes, applying for national talent recruitment programmes, and driving a new round of the selection process for Hong Kong laboratories applying for the status of Partner State Key Laboratories (SKLs). With regard to co-ordination of the new round of the Partner SKLs application exercise, the Overseas Expert Assessment Working Group formed by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong will be responsible for vetting applications from the six local universities. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government's recommendation list will be submitted to the MOST for consideration and approval in early 2013.

On regional co-operation, the Three-year Action Plan under the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Innovation Circle has been successfully completed, and four Hong Kong universities have established their Industry, Academic and Research Bases in Shenzhen to conductresearch and development work, including applied research and incubation projects.

Riding on the solid foundation of Hong Kong-Guangdong co-operation, the Working Group on Pilot Implementation for Guangdong-Hong Kong Technology Co-operation will proactively follow up on the Central Government's policy measures on supporting Hong Kong-Guangdong science and technology co-operation. They will explore the setting up of a national level incubator in Guangdong with a view to commercialising Hong Kong's science and technology achievements and promoting production and commercialisation of Hong Kong's research achievements in Guangdong Province.

Mainland members attending the meeting came from the MOST, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the China Association for Science and Technology, the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology and the Science, Technology and Innovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality.

The Hong Kong side comprised representatives from the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, the Innovation and Technology Commission, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, the University Grants Committee, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, the Hong Kong Productivity Council, the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute, the Hong Kong Automotive Parts and Accessory Systems R&D Centre, the Hong Kong R&D Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management Enabling Technologies, the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel, and the Nano and Advanced Materials Institute Limited. (HKSAR Government)