The European Commission and China recently held their 16th EU-China Joint Steering Committee Meeting on Science and Technology Cooperation in Brussels. The meeting was co-chaired by Ms. Signe Ratso, Deputy Director-General for Innovation, Prosperity, and International Cooperation, at DG R&I of the European Commission, and Mr. DAI Gang, Director General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China. This was the first in-person EU-China Joint Steering Committee meeting on science and technology cooperation taking place since 2018.
During the meeting, both sides exchanged views on their respective evolving strategies for science, technology, and innovation. The EU side asked the Chinese side to clarify the way their data security regime will be implemented and what impact this will have on cross border data sharing. The EU and China also summarised the progress they have achieved so far on the ongoing negotiations linked to the Joint Roadmap for the future of EU-China cooperation in science, technology, and innovation, and reflected on the potential next steps. In the past year, substantial progress has been achieved on the framework conditions linked to research cooperation. Joint advancements on the framework conditions linked to innovation are still needed.