On a path to become the world's second largest economy, China already makes a major impact on the world's economies, markets, resources and investment. Its growth in science is unmatched in history. China already leads in some technologies and pursues innovation through aggressive investment, exploiting technology from abroad and harnessing a network of foreign trained scientists and engineers. It is set to be a dominant power in technology, business and the global sustainability agenda where science is key to finding solutions. The UK must engage and partner effectively if it is to benefit.

Past investment in scholarship and academic links and a top quality research base has helped the UK become European leader in research publications with China, moving towards the Prime Minister’s target to double these by 2012. 12,000 China-UK academic alumni are on record. The Partners in Science campaign and Science and Innovation Network raised awareness of UK science excellence. Since 2007 the RCUK office in China has explored success factors for developing collaboration further.  

There are positive opportunities for the UK from:

China's rapidly growing science base – offering possibilities to link excellent groups in the UK and China, to mutual advantage and the advance of world science. In just one decade (1998-2007) China has quadrupled its science publications with Biological Sciences showing a sixfold rise. It has overtaken the UK as world No. 2. In citation performance, it is up from 3% of world share to over 10% in Physical Sciences and from 4% to over 12% in Engineering.  

China's heavy investment in strategic technologies - R&D investment was £39bn in 2007 and central Government funded science and technology will increase by 25% this year. Patenting is on a sharp trajectory towards a stated goal of world leadership. The UK is increasingly supporting strategic opportunities for business-led technology development. There is potential for judiciously chosen collaboration.

Investment and trade - China is already the UK's largest market for goods outside the US and EU, with exports rising by 29% last year. UKTI is pursuing research investment in the UK and supporting high technology investments in China, with major companies such as GSK, BP, Unilever, AstraZenica, Vodafone and Rolls Royce already well established. These investments directly support the UK economy, but vitally also build cross-border networks of innovation expertise in respective markets.  

Reformed innovation structures and policy – China has set innovation as a top national priority. Rebuilding the nation's innovation infrastructure from a base of mass, low cost manufacturing will be challenging. The UK can ease future collaboration in innovation and trade if it supports and influences these changes and thereby embeds mutual compatibility.

The UK has much to offer China in its experience of multi-disciplinary, multi-agency research; the co-production of knowledge by researchers, policymakers and communities; and the benefits of open, transparent processes that stimulate excellent research.

Priorities for the China Science and Innovation Network looking forward are to:

• link China to the UK's major cross-cutting research priorities and programmes. Many of these underpin both science and policy goals, such as the Living with Environmental Change programme;
• explore links between strategic technology programmes in both countries (e.g. the Technology Strategy Board's priorities of low carbon, digital economy and regenerative medicine/ stem cells);
• develop partnerships in areas of mutual interest in innovation policy and science -based policy making, including through the Foresight programme;
  develop more facilitation mechanisms – such as the RCUK Office work on funding and review mechanisms, China Tomorrow, Science Bridges, ICUK
  make the most of links through Universities and research alumni and facilitate greater movement of researchers, in particular from UK to China;
• target bilateral networking and support programmes to raise awareness of excellent research opportunities in the identified areas of focus.  

We are looking forward to working with our UK and China Partners to take co-operation forward.