News from Foshan Daily, reported by Journalist Ni Yujie: On August 8, the "Guangdong Academy of Sciences - Belarusian National Academy of Sciences, Institute Directors Forum" was held in Foshan. Academician Sergei Chizhik, the First Vice President of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, and Wu Qingping, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, delivered their keynote reports. 13 institutes under GDAS and 12 institutes under the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus connected with each other face to face and released their intents and needs for cooperation.

GDAS -- National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Institute Directors Forum was held in Foshan. Photo by Journalist Ni Yujie from Foshan Daily.

Sponsored by the Guangdong Academy of Sciences and Foshan Municipal People's Government, and organized by the Municipal Bureau of Science and Technology and Foshan Research Institute, this forum aimed to promote international scientific and technological cooperation and the new models for sharing achievements, promoting the landing and transformation of advanced scientific and technological innovations, and promote the optimization and upgrading of industries in Foshan.

The institutes under GDAS released their intent and demand for cooperation. Photo by Journalist Ni Yujie from Foshan Daily

"This is a grand event with ideas for promoting scientific and technological innovation and promoting development progress", said Cai Jiahua, Member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee and Deputy Mayor of Foshan. Relying on the well-established foundation of its manufacturing industry and unique geographical advantages, Foshan was actively seizing the opportunities from the "Belt and Road" initiative and the construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and striving to embark on a path of "world science and technology + intelligent manufacturing in Foshan + global market" for innovation and development. Foshan had an urgent need to strengthen its innovation driven by science and technology, and also had a rich soil suitable for all kinds of scientific research personnel, including Belarusian experts and scholars, to realize their inventions, creations, innovations and entrepreneurship. Both parties were highly complementary to each other, thus generating huge potentials for cooperation.

Liao Bing, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of GDAS, introduced that both parties would take the Institute Directors Forum as an opportunity to start a multi-level and comprehensive connection. In-depth cooperation would be carried out in basic research and applied fundamental research in key areas such as new materials, information technology, biomedicine and agricultural ecology, as well as in technology transfer, transformation of achievements and exchange of scientific and technological talents.

Communication and exchange between the institutes under GDAS and the institutes under the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences. Photo by Journalist Ni Yujie from Foshan Daily

Sergei Chizhik said, in view of Foshan's industrial characteristics, the two parties would find room for future cooperation in such fields as electronic information, drone, new materials and intelligent manufacturing, and there would be potential for cooperation in the research of ecological environment, polymer chemistry and natural environmental protection, which had been conducted by several research institutes under the Academy of Sciences.

Wu Qingping believed that the forum provided links to many scientific research resources from Belarus for Guangdong and Foshan. "If there is a demand in Belarus, we can cooperate in diabetes drug candidates, anti-tumor drug candidates, life safety, organic agriculture and so on." In the future, he planned to conduct research and applications related to the areas of microbial safety and health in Foshan.