At the invitation of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and the Swedish Research Council (VR), a delegation led by NSFC Vice President Zhang Xi visited the Netherlands and Sweden from September 23 to 30, 2018.

In the Netherlands, Prof. Zhang Xi met with Prof. Wim van den Doel, member of the NWO Executive Board and had a discussion on strengthening strategic synergy and cooperation between NSFC and NWO based on the current cooperation. The two sides agreed on jointly organizing high-level strategic workshop and supporting large international collaborative research in commonly interested strategic areas. Prof. Zhang Xi visited the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of Netherlands and had a discussion on the science and innovation system of the Netherlands and Sino-Dutch cooperation on science and innovation with Mr. Marcelis Boereboom, Director General of the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. Besides, Prof. Zhang Xi met with Prof. Wim van Saarloos, President of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and exchanged views about talent training and scientific integrity. Prof. Zhang Xi also visited the Delft University of Technology, the University of Amsterdam and the Sino-Dutch research projects on chemistry and river research. He delivered a presentation in the University of Amsterdam titled “Controlled Supramolecular Polymerization”.In Sweden, Prof. Zhang Xi met with Prof. Sven Stafström, Director General of the Swedish Research Council. They discussed measures to strengthen the cooperation and coordination between NSFC, VR and the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT), and ways to further promote Sino-Swedish cooperation and multilateral cooperation between China and North Europe. After the meeting, the two sides signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Scientific Cooperation and Exchange between NSFC and VR, which marked the establishment of partnership between NSFC and VR. Prof. Zhang Xi had a discussion with Dr. Andreas Göthenberg, Executive Director of STINT, on strengthening strategic dialogue and promoting China-North Europe cooperation. In another meeting with Dr. Mari Solerød, Vice Chair of the governing Board of JPI Urban Europe, and representatives from funding agencies of Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway, Prof. Zhang Xi talked about the current and future development of multilateral cooperation between China and Europe. He also exchanged views about Sino-Swedish cooperation in science and innovation with Mr. Gui Congyou, Chinese Ambassador to Sweden. During his visit, Prof. Zhang Xi also visited the KTH Royal Institute of Technology and the Stockholm University, learning about the progress of chemical research in Sweden.

Members of the delegation include Fan Yingjie from the NSFC Bureau of International and Liu Zuoyi from the NSFC Department of Management Sciences.