“With China’s rapid development of socio-economy, education and culture, its international S&T cooperation should shift from targeting only developed countries to both developed and developing countries”, said Prof. LIU Yi, director of the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGSNRR, CAS).

Prof. LIU made the remarks during his visit to Africa including Kenya and Rwanda from February 22 to March 2, 2012, The visit was made to pave the way for future Sino-African cooperation in science and technology, help enhance the monitoring, research and management level of Africa’s ecosystem, and at the same time enlarge the international horizon of CAS’ research staff.

Delegates of CAS hold discussion with the Deputy Vice-chancellor of University of Nairobi（photo by IEMP）

During stopover in Kenya, the delegation led by LIU，visited the University of Nairobi, the top institution for higher education in Africa and also the first and largest one for setting up Confucius Institute there. The two sides discussed a range of topics including personnel exchange and how to construct a S&T cooperation platform to cater the trend of intensified Sino-African cooperation.

While visiting Rwanda, the delegation held talks with Mr. Stanislas Kamanzi, minister of Natural Resources in Rwanda. Mr. Kamanzi appreciated the cooperation with China in ecosystem management and committed to providing full supports for CAS to set up long-term monitoring sites and carry out site-based research in Rwanda. The two sides also prioritized the main contents and ways for further collaborative research in ecosystem monitoring.

Consultation meeting on ecosystem management and climate change in Africa (photo by IEMP)

The delegation also participated in the Consultation Meeting on Ecosystem Management and Climate Change in Africa, which was held  to seek advices from the Chinese delegates on the research of ecosystem management and climate change in Africa. During the meeting, the delegates from Rwanda and Mauritania expressed hope to conduct long-term and practical cooperation with China.

The visit was organized by the International Ecosystem Management Partnership (IEMP) and sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Ministry of Science and Technology of China and National Development and Reform Commission. Its delegation comprised members from IGSNRR, Institute of Remote Sensing Applications, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography as well as journalists from CCTV.