From July 3 to 4, 2017, the International Symposium on Funding Science and People Cooperation for a Prosperous Belt and Road hosted by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) was held in Beijing. NSFC President Yang Wei attended and addressed the opening ceremony. NSFC VP Liu Congqiang delivered a keynote speech in which he introduced NSFC’s initiative to jointly establish the Belt and Road Funding Framework for Science and People Collaboration (BRFF) with science funding agencies in the countries and regions along the Belt and Road and beyond , as well as relevant international organizations. Over 90 delegates from more than 30 science funding agencies and international organizations participated in the symposium.

Through extensive discussions, all delegates approved to support the Joint Declaration on Funding Science and People Collaboration for a Prosperous Belt and Road Successfully held in Beijing which lays out a clear roadmap for Belt and Road scientific collaboration, thus building a solid foundation for turning the vision of the BRFF into action.

A Press Conference hosted by Mr. Han Yu, Deputy-secretary and Spokesman of NSFC, was held after the symposium closed. NSFC President Yang Wei, VP Liu Congqiang, Prof. Sirimali Fernando, Chairperson of National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka, Prof. Stuart Taberner, Director of International and Interdisciplinary Research of RCUK, and Prof. Pavel Kabat, Director General and Chief Executive Officer of IIASA attended the press conference and answered questions from the media.