The 2025 China-CEEC Conference on Industry-University-Research Cooperation and Exchange, organized by China-CEEC Technology Transfer Centre (Jiangsu S&T Exchange Center with Foreign Countries) with the support from the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology, opened in Nanjing, Jiangsu on the morning of September 12. Themed on “Open Innovation and Shared Opportunities”, this Conference attracted 20 representatives from 17 institutions in the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia, as well as more than 160 representatives from approximately 120 institutions across Jiangsu Province and beyond.

The opening ceremony was graced with speeches by five leaders and guests, namely Zhao Yan, Vice Governor of the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government, Wang Xiao, Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation of the MOST, Vladislav Spasov, Consul General of Bulgaria in Shanghai, Róma Ádám, Consul General of Hungary in Shanghai, and Igor Škrjanc, a member of the Slovenian Academy of Engineering and a professor of University of Ljubljana. Attendees also included Qiu Zhiqiang, Deputy Secretary-General of the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government, Xu Guanghui, Director-General, and Ni Hanyi, Deputy Director-General of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology, Jin Shangjun, Deputy Director-General of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government, as well as representatives from the Secretariat of China-CEEC Cooperation.

In his speech, Zhao Yan stated that Jiangsu, bearing in mind President Xi Jinping’s expectations, is capitalizing on its strategic location at the intersection of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road to strengthen innovation cooperation with CEECs, actively integrate into the global innovation network, and accelerate the establishment of an industrial technology innovation center with global influence. Jiangsu is willing to go hand in hand with CEECs to build more resilient innovation partnerships through mechanism innovation, create a more energetic open innovation ecosystem via element agglomeration, and foster more competitive innovation and development momentum to seek future growth, with the aim of continuously expanding the scope of cooperation, elevating its level, and creating new space for innovation and development.

Wang Xiao said that the China-CEEC Conference on Industry-University-Research Cooperation and Exchange is an integral part of the China-CEEC Conference on Innovation Cooperation, adding that the Department of International Cooperation of the MOST will support Jiangsu in leveraging the advantages in technological innovation cooperation, utilizing the platform of the China-CEEC Conference on Industry-University-Research Cooperation and Exchange, and making good use of the China-CEEC technology transfer network to foster new momentum and discover new opportunities for technological innovation cooperation between China and CEECs.

Vladislav Spasov, Róma Ádám and Igor Škrjanc, in their speeches, presented an overview of scientific and technological innovation in their countries. They shared successful cases of innovation cooperation with China, especially Jiangsu, and expressed great expectations for continuing mutually beneficial innovation cooperation with Jiangsu in the future.

This Conference saw achievements made in innovation cooperation. Specifically, five cooperation agreements were signed on-site between universities, research institutions and companies in Jiangsu and universities and research institutions from CEECs. In the meantime, 10 new institutions were honored as partners of the China-CEEC Technology Transfer Centre. So far, more than 130 institutions from China and CEECs have become such partners. Additional activities included three parallel thematic matchmaking sessions regarding new energy, intelligent manufacturing and cooperation partners, and B2B matchmaking session, during which 30-plus innovation cooperation projects and potential cooperation projects were promoted and over 70 pairs of Chinese and foreign institutions held talks.

From September 12 to 14, site visits in Jiangsu were organized for representatives from CEECs, facilitating deeper alignment between their institutions and Jiangsu in industrial innovation cooperation needs. The representatives visited innovation parks, technology firms, universities and research institutions in Yancheng and Changzhou, where they engaged in in-depth exchanges and discussed collaboration.