Helene Hellmark Knutsson, Sweden’s Minister of Higher Education and Research, is visiting Beijing and Shanghai in China during 11 – 16 June heading a delegation with the aim to highlight Sweden as an education and research nation and promote internationalization of higher education and research.
The minister, together with the Swedish delegation with representatives from the higher education sector, will have bilateral meetings with China’s education minister Chen Baosheng and Wan Gang, Minister of Science and Technology.
During the trip, a Memorandum of Understanding on Education and Research will be signed.
“China is the country in Asia that sends the most students to Sweden and we have research collaboration at many different levels with China. The Memorandum of Understanding is an important step to further strengthen relations and stimulate mobility between our two countries. International exchanges are also very important for an innovative and export-dependent country like Sweden, but also important for strengthening the quality of higher education and research,” said Minister Helene Hellmark Knutsson.
Sweden is a world-leading country in research and innovation linked to life science. In order to spread knowledge in China about the Swedish life science sector, the Swedish minister will hold a press brief and a speech at the China Sweden Health Forum 2017, which has the theme of healthcare and cooperation in the field.
The Beijing program also includes meetings with the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Beijing Union Medical College, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The trip ends in Shanghai, where the minister and the delegation meet researchers and students at the University of Stockholm and visit the Nordic Center, a center that works to promote collaboration between researchers and students from the Nordic countries and China. The education minister also meets Tongji University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
