Partnering with China, Partnering with Innovation

China stands ready to work with all countries to jointly build a global community of science and technology and create a better future together, Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong said at the opening ceremony of the 2025 Pujiang Innovation Forum (PIF) in Shanghai on September 20.

The theme of this year's forum, "Sharing Innovation and Shaping the Future: Building an Open and Cooperative Global Sci-tech Community," were applauded by the participants.

Co-hosted by China's Ministry of Science and Technology and the Shanghai municipal government, this year's PIF, held from September 20 to 22, brought together more than 500 guests from 45 countries and regions. PIF, now in its 18th year, reached a new record both in scale and the number of attendees.

This year's agenda encompassed the opening ceremony, the main forum and 30 thematic forums, alongside five key events: the InnoMatch Expo, the WeStart 2025 Entrepreneurial Capital Conference, a young scientists' symposium, a seminar for high-end international talents, and the closing ceremony of the China-Belarus Sci-Tech Innovation Year.

"In the modern world, innovation knows no boundaries, and innovation is born out of collaboration," Belarusian First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Snopkov said, citing the China-Belarus Great Stone Industrial Park, the largest joint venture project between China and Belarus, as an example.

Belarus was the guest country of honor of this year's forum. The China-Belarus Science, Technology, and Innovation Cooperation Achievements Exhibition held during the forum showcased the outstanding results and innovative progress of bilateral sci-tech cooperation.

The list of joint projects continuously running on the electronic screens in the exhibition hall vividly demonstrated the fruitful outcomes of China-Belarus sci-tech innovation cooperation. The China-Belarus Joint Lab for Animal Disease Prevention and Control is one of the joint projects.

The joint lab's deputy director Li Tao said both China and Belarus are major agricultural countries that face threats from animal and plant diseases. Through the joint lab, the two sides are focusing on cooperation in disease prevention and control, beneficial biological resource utilization, and antimicrobial resistance management, driving breakthroughs in key technologies to enhance food security and agricultural supply.

Endorsing the concept of building an open and cooperative global sci-tech community, Sergei Shlychkov, chairman of the Belarusian State Committee for Science and Technology, expressed his anticipation of further strengthening science, technology, and innovation cooperation with China: "By the next exhibition, our collaborative achievements will be even more fruitful."

The InnoMatch Expo, a cornerstone of the forum, released 10,000 technology demand listings globally, with enterprises committing over 20 billion RMB in investment. It also announced 2,000 talent vacancies, and more than 80 cutting-edge products and experiential scenarios made their debut.

"Addressing global challenges like the energy crisis demands international collaboration to forge sustainable solutions," remarked Luo Delong, deputy director-general of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Organization. "A thriving community is built on mutual trust and shared benefits," Luo called the ITER a microcosm of the global sci-tech community, where researchers across nations converge to propel fusion energy development.

The forum has a limited duration, but cooperation knows no bounds. Many exhibitors and visitors said partnering with China means partnering with innovation, and partnering with opportunity.

"Building an open and collaborative sci-tech community is about trust, shared growth, and long-term value creation," said Chloe Tan, Head of Asia of the Founders Forum, adding that this year's PIF theme signals a commitment to global partnerships, where investors can not only back frontier innovation but also be part of a trusted ecosystem that helps scale those technologies responsibly across borders.

"Connection, collaboration, even clash of opinions, are the essence of the PIF's charm," Mert Orhan Astam, CEO of HaptonTech, a startup in the Netherlands, said.

Source: Science and Technology Daily