A high-level group of Chinese researchers and innovators attended the 2017 China-Europe Research and Innovation Tour in Shenzhen, Guangdong province on Nov 16.

Held as part of the China High-tech Fair, which opened in Shenzhen on the same day, the event gave China's tech community a chance to discover the pioneering work being done in science, technology and innovation by their European counterparts.

The tour, which has been in its fifth year since 2013, seeks to upgrade the STI exchanges and cooperation between China and Europe. Shenzhen is the fifth stop on the tour this year, after previous events were held in Beijing, Hangzhou, Changsha and Guangzhou.

Science and technology officials from the EU Delegation to China and embassies of European countries such as Germany, France, Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as representatives from China-Europe STI cooperation entities, attended the Shenzhen event, which mainly targets the research and innovation communities based in Shenzhen.

The event focused on the final three-year plan for Horizon 2020, the EU's framework for research and innovation that has a budget of €30 billion ($35.3 billion), which was released in October in Beijing.

According to the organizing committee of the tour, the new Horizon 2020 plan aims to support breakthroughs and market-creating innovations, focusing on priorities such as creating a low-carbon, climate-resilient future, circular economy, digitizing and transforming European industry and services, and boosting "blue sky" frontier and fundamental research.

It also strengthens international cooperation in research and innovation, which will invest over €1 billion in 30 flagship initiatives in areas of mutual benefit. Among these initiatives, the EU-China flagship initiatives include projects in the food, agriculture, biotechnology, sustainable urbanization and aviation industries.

The Ministry of Science and Technology has set up a co-funding mechanism to support China-based entities in joint projects under those initiatives and beyond with an annual budget of up to 200 million yuan ($30.2 million).

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