On the night of June 24, 2020, Professor Xie Xincheng, Vice President of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), attended the international roundtable discussion on the priorities of the research community in a post-coronavirus environment virtually hosted by American Physical Society (APS). Thirteen scientists representing international science funders and scientific communities from 8 countries, namely the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Italy, Brazil, Canada, Japan and Rwanda, joined the roundtable, and shared their perspectives on the priorities and plans for responding to the impacts of COVID-19, and the policies and approaches to enable the resumption of international scientific conferences and collaborations.

Prof. Xie introduced the fruitful work that NSFC has been carrying out to support COVID-19 related research and international cooperation, and briefly analyzed the possible impact of the pandemic on basic research and potential solutions. All participants agreed that the pandemic has exerted profound impact on people's work and lifestyle, making people more aware of the importance of science, but the scientific community should take a proactive role in guiding the general public to understand the research results and the science behind; and that the global scientific community is paying close attention to the worldwide situation of COVID-19, and doing its utmost to participate in relevant transdisciplinary research, in hope of containing the pandemic as soon as possible and resuming international scientific exchange and cooperation activities. 

Dr. Yingjie Fan, Deputy Director General of Bureau of International Cooperation was present at the video conference.