Jean-Eric Paquet, the European Commission's director-general for research and innovation, made the remarks recently during a presentation introducing the EU Horizon Europe program to Chinese science and media representatives, on a two-day trip when he led a delegation of officials for in-depth discussions on EU-China cooperation in research and innovation.

Innovation is striving in China, and good investments are driving innovation, he said, adding that the EU and China need to work together more on innovation and science to address social and economic challenges, as they are cooperating very intensively on science infrastructure, and have been working closely together in areas such as energy, space and brain research.

The EU Horizon Europe program, running over 2012-2027, has a proposed budget of 100 billion euros and welcomes cooperation with China and other international partners to jointly deal with social and global challenges to provide solutions, he said.

After the program introduction, he also opened the fifth EURAXESS Science Slam at Zhongguancun in Beijing, often referred to as China's Silicon Valley. The Science Slam is a science communication competition where young researchers from all over China engage with the general public for an opportunity to visit a European research institution.

Paquet also met leaders from several top Chinese research institutions during his visit, including the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The EU and China celebrate the 20th anniversary in scientific and technological cooperation this year, since the signing of the EU-China Science and Technology agreement in 1998.