Science, tech links

Initiated by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and the Chinese consulate in Houston, the summit was organized by the US China Innovation Alliance and China Science and Technology Exchange Center.

In its first two years, UCIS brought together more than 60 Chinese and American innovation organizations, held more than 1,000 B2B match meetings, helped to sign more than 100 agreements, and brought to fruition several major projects, Consul General Li pointed out.

"This has become such an important platform for technology collaboration between China and the US that it was included in the 2017 US-China Social and Cultural Dialogue. Its influence is becoming bigger," Li said.

Referring to IP, LI said that "in 2017, there were over 1.38 million patent applications in China, and China paid $28.6 billion in IP fees. These data fully demonstrate that China is a firm advocate and participant for international rules and IP."

Chen Futao, minister counsellor of science and technology at the Chinese embassy in Washington, echoed Li's view.

"In the past 40 years, science and technology cooperation is a major component and driving force in the China-US relationship. China and the US have become the number one partner of each other in published joint theses as well as technology transfer."

Chen said that "globalization, no matter whether you like it or not, it's here. Smart policymaking has to take this into consideration. Many scholars have stated that more than 80 percent of technology-driven goods come from other countries."