The New Zealand – China Non-Communicable Diseases Research Collaboration Centre (NCD CRCC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the China National Center for Biotechnology Development (CNCBD) in December 2019.
The CNCBD was established in China in 1983 under the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST). It is the sole national centre to coordinate and implement the national Science and Technology program in Health and Biotechnology in China. The NCD CRCC was founded in 2016 by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) in line with the agreement between the governments of the People’s Republic of China and New Zealand on scientific and technological cooperation.
During the past three years, both the NCD CRCC and the CNCBD have worked closely together to establish meaningful relationships between leading NCD researchers in New Zealand and China. In addition to various annual visits by the Directors of both centres, several visits were organised for NZ delegations to visit China and Chinese scientists to visit New Zealand.
The first of a planned series of New Zealand-China NCD Research Collaboration Forums co-organised by NCD CRCC and CNCBD was successfully held in Queenstown in late August 2019, where 20 delegates from China, 40 scientists from New Zealand, and government agencies from both countries were present. The two parties continue to arrange international meetings and are now planning the second NCD Forum to be held in China in 2020.
This MOU will foster closer collaboration and strengthen the exchanges between the NCD CRCC and the CNCBD. Both parties continue to explore cooperation in various forms, including co-organising annual international forums on non-communicable diseases and providing recommendations for joint research projects.