Mark Field, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific
Mark Field MP, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific, made a visit to Nanjing on July 25, during his five-day visit to China.
During his second official trip to China as Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific, Mark Field will call on senior Chinese government officials and visit a number of Sino-UK cooperation projects in Beijing, Chongqing, Chengdu, Nanjing and Shanghai.
UK and eastern China have been working closely to maintain good trading connections, according to Minister Field while in an interview with JiangsuNow. “A number of companies have been based here for many years, increasingly in science and technology, education and in a broader area of energy and climate change.
“Some of our leading universities like Oxford and Kings College of London are doing tremendous cooperative work here in Nanjing and I very much hope to see more in the years to come.”
He said he was excited by the prospect of companies coming to all parts of China including Nanjing, where there’ll be fresh thinking and fresh opportunities for the two countries to collaborate and cooperate closely.
Mark Field (2nd from right) visits Nanjing Graphene Research Institute during his visit to Nanjing, Jul. 25, 2018.
China and UK signed a memorandum of cooperation in scientific innovation in December, 2017, to join hands in the face of new opportunities and global challenges. Since then a number of achievements have been made between the two countries.
“One of the most important achievements is to get some of leading scientists to work closely together. This has been going on for some time already, but having a memorandum understanding, it puts more emphasis on important areas. In Nanjing we have the graphene research institute that has been set up.”
As a promising new material, graphene is becoming a new growth point in scientific innovation industry in Nanjing. Led by Konstantin Novoselov, professor at the University of Manchester and Nobel Prize winner in 2010, Nanjing Graphene Research Institute was established under the cooperation of UK-based BGT Materials and Nanjing Development Zone. The institute has been making progresses in research and commercializing of graphene.
Nanjing Graphene Research Institute
“China is an essential partner for the UK in many areas, from science and innovation to trade and investment. I look forward to seeing more partnerships develop as we strengthen our links in the new chapter of our ‘Golden Era’.”
