Interview: Top Russian scientist eyes closer cooperation with China

18 November 2020

Alexander Sergeev, president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, has said that he is looking forward to more Russia-China cooperation in the scientific and technological sphere.

The Russia-China Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation from 2020 to 2021 is a very significant event, Sergeev told Xinhua in a recent interview.

“With this, we emphasize that we are not just developing general cooperation with China, but we concentrate on science and high technologies. While we have already fostered serious cooperation, we should take it to a new, modern level,” he said.

China has shown “very significant progress” in recent years in scientific research and its accomplishments in the high-tech sector are well known, he said, adding that China has set the task of reaching the forefront in a large number of scientific fields, “precisely those that will be key in determining the technologies of the future.”

“For Russia, this is very important because we will be able to work together in some of these areas, share our resources and use our joint experience,” Sergeev said.

Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the areas for Russia-China cooperation should certainly be modern virology, the scientist said.

In his view, such cooperation should focus on not only the creation of new test systems, vaccines or medicines, but also the developments in fundamental virology, because there is a need to lay scientific and technological groundwork for quick responses to virus-induced challenges.

“We have put forward an initiative in Russia to create a new center for fundamental virology, where we will undoubtedly take into account the experience of our Chinese colleagues and consult with them on how to properly build such cooperation,” he said.

Sergeev was also impressed by China’s capability to quickly apply the latest outcomes of scientific research.

“China is, to a large extent, an example for Russia in terms of how to quickly transform scientific knowledge and advances into technology … How China is able to do so is very important for us,” said Sergeev, who believes that bilateral partnership in this area could be promising. 

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