As enterprises from China and the United States play a more active role, science and technology (S&T) cooperation between the two countries has presented a comprehensive, multilevel and wide-ranging pattern with governmental and nongovernmental support, a senior Chinese official has said.
In Silicon Valley, hub of U.S. high-tech industry, most of the large and medium-sized companies including Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Cisco, maintain close cooperation with Chinese enterprises, universities and research organizations in a comprehensive way, Dong Jianlong, chief S&T consul of Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Today, dozens of Chinese enterprises have set up companies, representative offices or research and development (R&D) centers in Silicon Valley with more investments in wider fields. "More and more Chinese enterprises coming to invest in the United States is a new feature in China-U.S. cooperation," he said.
The Chinese enterprises are interested in making investments not only in information technology, but also in such emerging sectors as biotechnology, new energy and environmental protection, he added.
Meanwhile, enterprises and universities from the two countries have also diversified their S&T cooperation. The outsourcing services have expanded from software and biotechnology to information processing and financial services.
"A decade ago, most venture capital firms and private equity funds from Silicon Valley were not interested in China." Dong said. "But today, almost all these investors have business operations in China."
Besides, both Chinese and U.S. enterprises and universities are working to achieve scale effects in S&T cooperation through a "platform-to-platform" way by setting up technology transfer centers, the Chinese official noted.
The Zhejiang-California International NanoSystems Institute (ZCNI), he said, is a good example.
Co-founded by the Zhejiang provincial government, Zhejiang University and the University of California, the ZCNI aims to build a R&D center integrating scientific research with technology commercialization and investment industrialization.
Platforms like the ZCNI can help integrate the S&T, capital, information, human resources with other sources, enhance mutual cooperation among universities, R&D organizations and enterprises from the two countries in a comprehensive way, and achieve industrialization of S&T findings and talents transfer, Dong said.
The platforms can also push forward the S&T progress as well as economic and social development in related regions both in China and the United States, he noted.
S&T cooperation is beneficial to both countries, Dong said, adding that that's why U.S. local governments take a welcoming attitude to such bilateral S&T cooperation.
Last December, China Medical City based in Taizhou, Jiangsu province, announced to open its representative office in San Francisco.
"We welcome China Medical City to Mission Bay, our city's center for biotech and life sciences innovation, and look forward to building a productive and prosperous relationship between our two regions," Gavin Newsom, former mayor of San Francisco, said at the opening ceremony.
As for China, Dong said, importing mature and innovative technology from the United States can help China develop emerging industries and upgrade Chinese-made products, noting that China can draw on the experience of U.S. enterprises in management of technology program to improve its assessment and management of technology programs.
China and the United States are different in management and corporate culture, therefore S&T cooperation can help the two countries enhance mutual understanding, which, in return, helps promote bilateral cultural exchange, Dong said.
However, the United States still has some restrictions on technology transfer, he said. "Easing those restrictions will benefit both sides to achieve a win-win outcome," he added.