China

A bilateral agreement for economic, industrial, scientific and technical cooperation between the Belgian-Luxemburg Economic Union (BLEU) and the People's Republic of China was signed in Beijing on the 23rd of November 1979. Within this framework, the XVth meeting of the Mixed Committee for S&T cooperation was held with BELSPO and MOST (Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology) in Brussels on the 20th of October 2004.
12 cooperation projects have been approved. 

In the 19th Mixed Commission Meeting that was organised in Beijing on June 24th 2015, in the light of the State Mission, it was decided to launch an call for research proposals in marine sciences in relation to climate systems and/or with attention for earth observation where relevant. A call for joint research proposals was launched on 21st December 2015. 
The call was focussed on 2 research areas: the role of oceans in the climate system and earth observation.
As a result of this call, BELSPO finances the projects OCeANIC and HYPERMAQ.

A workshop on polar science took place in Shangai on 26th June 2015 in the framework of the MoU signed with SOA (State Oceanographic Administration). 

At the end of June 2015 a MoU was signed in Beijing among BELSPO and the Chinese national space administration (CSNA) for cooperation in the domain of space research, technologies and applications.

On March 30th 2017 a first China-Belgium Innovation Dialogue was organised in Brussels . The event was co-organised by BELSPO, EWI, INNOVIRIS and WBI , and was concerted with MOST (Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology) and the Chinese embasssy in Brussels. 150 Chinese and Belgian stakeholders have participated at the sessions wherein the policy and instruments from both sides were presented and succesfull cooperation initiatives in various domains or technology sectors were highlighted. The meeting took place in a perspective of future strengtened cooperation in science and innovation. The signature of 3 new MoU's showcases this ambition.

In 2020, BELSPO has launched together with DST (Dpt for Science and Technonolgy, South Africa) and with MOST (Ministry for Science and Technology, China) a trilateral call to support research projects. The call BIOCLIMHEALT, launched on November 27th 2020 and closed on March 17th 2021, was focussed on ‘The interplay between biodiversity, climate change and health’.
As a result of the peer review process 2 research projects are funded by BELSPO, by NRF and by MOST: CLIMAVIN and EMPOCHA .

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Belgium, the 2nd China-Belgium Innovation Dialogue (ID 2.0) was jointly organized by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO), along with the China Association for International Exchange of Personnel (CAIEP),EWI (Flanders Dept. of Economy, Science and Innovation), INNOVIRIS (the Brussels Capital Region agency for the encouragement of research and innovation) and WBI (Wallonia-Brussels International). The online meeting was be held on October 28th and 29th, 2021.

The main objective was to raise awareness about the excellence of research and innovation in both countries and to highlight on policy and instruments and on perspectives for new or enhanced cooperation. By showcasing of ongoing cooperation from academic and economic players involved in fruitful joint initiatives or partnerships, good practices and partnerships opportunities were presented, in an open innovation approach. Four new MoU's were signed. With forum sessions focussed on ‘Factories of the Future’, ‘Life Sciences’ and ‘Smart and Sustainable Cities’, the ID event gathered scientists, senior officials and industrials presenting and discussing innovation cooperation and perspectives, business opportunities and new cooperation models.