International development experts strengthen UK-China ties
Some of the UK’s most well-respected international development experts visit China – a sign of the growing partnership between the UK and China on international development.
International development experts strengthen UK-China ties.
The UK Department for International Development (DFID) Chief Scientist Chris Whitty arrived in China this week, leading a delegation of prominent UK academics on a visit that aims to strengthen the UK-China Partnership on International Development, as well as create new institutional links between the two countries.
The delegation’s visit marks another step forward in the UK and China’s international development cooperation, which has already produced significant results through joint projects in third countries, as well as UK-China cooperation on global development issues such as health and international peacekeeping.
With the close cooperation of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the UK experts will visit rural Gansu Province, deliver lectures and seminars at some of China’s many academic centres of excellence and engage with policy-makers in the Development Research Centre of China’s State Council and the Ministry of Commerce.
The UK delegation’s visit also marks the launch of two UK-funded research programmes into China and the developing world:
The first, a $4.5 million partnership between DFID and the Economic and Social Research Council, will investigate the impact on economic development of China’s engagement with sub-Saharan Africa, and how lessons from China’s own successful economic transformation could generate new solutions for low-income Africa.
The second, a $500,000 joint programme between DFID, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the China International Development Research Network, will stimulate collaborative international research into how China can improve further the impact of its aid programme and participation in global international development processes.
For further information on these new initiatives, please contact DECARP@esrc.ac.uk and wangyanlei@cau.edu.cn respectively.