“The importance of research cooperation with China will increase steadily,” says Director General of the Research Council Arvid Hallén. “Over time Norway will invest resources to expand the scope of the China research programme to encompass even more scientific fields than it does from its launch.”

Attractive research partner

China is currently the second most important research nation in the world, after the USA, as measured by the number of scientific articles produced.

“China has distinguished itself as a serious research player, and there is competition to cooperate with the best Chinese institutions,” explains Thomas Hansteen. “Norwegian companies and research institutions have gained a foothold. Those with a long-term perspective are best able to achieve results.”

Cohesive initiatives

The Research Council has launched the China research programme to provide a cohesive framework for initiatives targeting China. Scientific activities will be coordinated under the Research Council’s thematic-based NORKLIMA, VAM, CLIMIT and MILJO2015 programmes.

 The China research programme will distribute NOK 20 million per year during the 2009-2017 period. To ensure high scientific merit, the participating thematic research programmes will be responsible for issuing calls for proposals and processing grant applications.

The China research programme is part of the effort to follow up the Norwegian Government’s overall China strategy. An advisory committee will be appointed consisting of experts on China from the research, trade and industry and public sectors, and will include representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other ministries providing funding.

Norway will profile its initiatives targeting China at EXPO 2010 in Shanghai.

Successful start for climate research

There was a tremendous response to the China research programme’s first call for proposals for studies on climate change and pollution on Chinese territory and in the Arctic. The programme has allocated NOK 27 million to six projects involving cooperation between exellent Chinese and Norwegian partners.

Ambitions for industrial cooperation and market access

China, as well as Norway give priority to energy and technology areas such as nanotechnology, biotechnology and ICT. “It is natural to seek out opportunities for cooperation, and a number of companies and institutions in China and Norway have already established long-term cooperation in these areas,” says Hansteen.

Thomas Hansteen Hansteen stresses that Norwegian trade and industry and research institutions must work together on initiatives targeting China. “If Norway can establish extensive research cooperation with Chinese players within energy and environmental technology, it may subsequently serve as a basis for industrial cooperation. In turn this may provide access to highly competitive technology producers.” Hansteen points out that Norway also has aspirations for promoting Norwegian technology products in one of the world’s largest markets.