Spotlight: China, U.S. enjoy great potential for innovation cooperation

Officials and business leaders from China and the United States see great potential for cooperation between the two countries in technology innovation and investment as a China-U.S. innovation and investment conference kicked off here Tuesday.

No country will succeed in technology innovation without international cooperation in today's globalized world, said Jin Xiaoming, director general of the Department of International Cooperation at China's Ministry of Science and Technology.

It is the consistent strategy of the Chinese government to deepen technology innovation cooperation with foreign partners and connect to the global innovation network, Jin told the conference, known as the first China-U.S. Innovation and Investment Summit.

Since 1979, China and the United States have inked nearly 50 protocols related to health, education, energy and environmental protection, he said.

To promote technology innovation cooperation, the two governments have also established dialogue mechanisms and joint commissions for technology cooperation, he said.

Technology cooperation has become the cornerstone of Sino-U.S. relations and has helped promote exchange and cooperation in all fields, especially in economy and trade, he said.

"It is significant for the two countries to conduct innovation and investment cooperation as the United States, the greater power in terms of technology innovation, and China, the largest developing country, can learn a lot from each other," he said.

The Chinese official also urged the participants to fully use the conference as a platform to find partners in a bid to realize mutually beneficial cooperation and common prosperity.

Meanwhile, Li Qiangmin, China's consul general in Houston, also stressed the importance and necessity of Sino-U.S. innovation cooperation.

"China and the U.S. complement each other, and there is a huge demand for collaboration among companies and organizations from both countries, " he told Xinhua.

"As the largest developing country in the world, China has a population of 1.3 billion and faces a critical time of industrial transformation and upgrade," he said.

"Chinese companies are eager to achieve development through overseas investment and acquisition, and establishing R&D (research and development) capabilities," he said.

Their commitment to this mission is well demonstrated by the fact that more than 150 investors and entrepreneurs from China have signed up for this summit, he said.

China's innovation strength has played an important role in the world and needs to be integrated into the global innovation systems, he said. R&D spending in China accounted for 20 percent of such expenses worldwide, second only to that of the United States.

Echoing such views, U.S. officials and business leaders said that there is enormous space for the United States and China to collaborate on innovation and there are unmet needs for companies and investors from both countries to get to know each other better and develop partnerships.

Bernard Harris, former astronaut and president of the U.S. China Innovation Alliance, said that the conference, which serves as a much-needed platform to bridge interests, is a good opportunity for both countries' companies and investors to create a win-win outcome.

The Alliance wants to provide a much-needed forum for U.S. companies looking for Chinese investment and market access, and work with Chinese investors to discover investment opportunities in the latest technologies and products in the United States, he said.

Both James Chen, director of Department of Strategic Business Development at Economic Development & Tourism, Office of Governor Greg Abbott, and Bob Harvey, CEO of Greater Houston Partnership consider this conference as another opportunity for Houston and Chinese investors and companies.

Like their Chinese friends, they said that it needs to enhance such collaboration in the southern U.S. region led by the Texas markets of Houston, Austin and Dallas.

Both the Chinese and Americans are now eager to work with all of the important innovation forces in the southern U.S. region to start a new era in innovative collaboration between the United States and China.

Jointly organized by the U.S. China Innovation Alliance, China Science and Technology Exchange Center and International Technology Transfer Network, the three-day business conference is designed to connect U.S. technology companies, especially those in the state of Texas, with potential investment partners from China. Endi