On Friday, April 26th, 2024, a meeting of the HATZ Governing Board representatives with the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of Croatia, H.E. Qi Qianjin took place on the premises of HATZ, . Along with the Ambassador, the advisor for science and technology of embassy, Mr. Du Heting, also attended the meeting, while HATZ was represented by President Prof. Vedran Mornar, PhD, Vice President Prof. Bruno Zelić, PhD, Deputy Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Mario Bačić, PhD and Board member Prof. Vladimir Andročec, PhD. The topic of the meeting was the exchange of ideas on scientific and technological cooperation between Croatian and Chinese scientists, as well as the strengthening of existing bilateral relations.
After Prof. Mornar presented the goals and structure of HATZ and highlighted some important recent events organized by HATZ (such as the Euro-CASE 2020 and CAETS 2023 conferences), a presentation by H.E. Qi Qianjin followed. The Ambassador emphasized the strong transformation that the People’s Republic of China has undergone in recent decades, and its important role in the technological and innovative development of mankind. He emphasized the technologies of electric vehicles, lithium batteries and the use of solar energy stand out here, in which the People’s Republic of China a world leader. He also mentioned the long-term productive cooperation established by companies from Croatia, which operate in the People’s Republic of China, as well as the successful cooperation with some faculties of the University of Zagreb. He also emphasized the complementary scientific and technological interests between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Croatia and the need to strengthen cooperation at all levels, from intergovernmental cooperation to cooperation between HATZ and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) to cooperation at the individual level. Mr. Du Heting pointed out that the “Call for proposal for large-scale scientific research projects within the framework of the joint Croatian-Chinese founding of research projects” has been opened (link). Prof. Zelić pointed out some examples of good practice, such as the “”China-Croatia Belt and Road Joint Laboratory on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services” project, and emphasized that despite the efficient transfer of technology between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Croatia, it is necessary to define more concrete steps in order to strengthen cooperation between scientists. The meeting also highlighted some recent initiatives that are not necessarily related to technical and biotechnical sciences, such as the “China + Central and Eastern European countries initiative” (link).
The conclusion of the meeting is that it provides a good basis for strengthening existing bilateral relations, whereby the Embassy of the Republic of China can serve as an initial contact point of contact for establishing cooperation with Chinese scientists to exchange knowledge and experience in the field of technical and biotechnical sciences and to establish new collaborations and research projects that would contribute to solving numerous global challenges identified at the meeting.
