14 Oct 2026
EU and China hold Joint Steering Committee meeting on Science and Technology Cooperation
On 13 October 2026, the EU and China convened the 17th meeting of their Joint Steering Committee on Science and Technology in Beijing. The meeting was jointly chaired by Cristina Russo, Deputy Director-General for Innovation, Prosperity and International Cooperation at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD), and Zhu Xuehua, Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation at China’s Ministry of Science and Technology.
Both sides discussed their developing science, technology and innovation (STI) strategies, including China’s 15th Five-Year Plan for STI and the EU’s forthcoming Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP10).
They also assessed progress on their two joint research flagships: Food, Agriculture and Biosolutions (FAB), and Climate Change and Biodiversity (CCB). Each side shared key findings from its monitoring and evaluation activities and proposed ways to improve the flagships’ implementation and effectiveness.
The meeting also reviewed cooperation within the broader institutional and multilateral landscape. Topics included skills development and researcher mobility through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), as well as the second phase of the Multilateral Dialogue on research and innovation values and principles.
The EU renewed its invitation for China to join the Global Ocean Eye Alliance. Co-led by the EU and Canada, the initiative aims to strengthen joint efforts in ocean observation and was launched at a high-level event in New York on 23 September 2026.
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