From August 20 to 24, 2018, a delegation led by Vice President of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Wang Chengwen visited Japan. The delegation visited Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) which is one of NSFC’s collaborative institutions, two research groups from the University of Tokyo funded under A3 Foresight Program, and attended the 16th meeting of China-Japan Committee on intergovernmental Science and Technology Cooperation.

At JSPS, the delegation was warmly received by Prof. Norifumi Ushio, Executive Director. During the meeting, Vice President Wang Chengwen first introduced NSFC’s leadership change and its funding activities in 2018. Then, he reviewed bilateral cooperation and joint funding between NSFC and JSPS, and came up with new proposals for further cooperation. Prof. Norifumi Ushio said JSPS would consider those proposals in good faith, and he expressed the willingness for more frequent high-level exchanges of visits and for a stronger support to cooperative research of Chinese and Japanese scientists. The two sides also exchanged opinions on other subjects such as research integrity.

At the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, Vice President Wang Chengwen attended the 16th meeting of China-Japan Committee on Intergovernmental Science and Technology Cooperation, and delivered a speech representing NSFC. This meeting was co-held the by Ministry of Science and Technology of China and Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. The Chinese delegation was headed by Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang, and joined by 30 representatives from other ministries, agencies and local governments, while the Japanese delegation composed of 34 members was headed by Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan Yoshimasa Hayashi. In his address, Vice President Wang Chengwen introduced the funding atlas of NSFC, the cooperation status with JSPS and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). Moreover, he put forward proposals for further cooperation with JSPS and JST, including expanding cooperation fields, increasing funding scale, focusing on young scientists’ cooperation, and strengthening exchanges of administrative staff between institutions.

During the visit in Japan, Vice President Wang Chengwen also held discussions respectively with the two research groups from the University of Tokyo funded under the framework of A3 Foresight Program. Prof. Zou Liyao, Deputy Director General of NSFC’s Bureau of Policy accompanied for the visit.