Partnering Events
ICUK is leading on high-profile bilateral programmes funded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Prosperity Fund, BIS Global Partnership Fund (GPF) and supported by the UK Science and Innovation Network (SIN). The UK-China Technology Partnering Programme has been implemented by ICUK since 2010. The programme hold a series of bilateral technology partnering events between 2010 and 2016 across a range of sectors including bio-pharmaceuticals, agriculture technologies, low carbon building, the Internet of Things, medical device, water technologies, sustainable manufacturing, advanced materials and personalised medicine.
Each event consisted of workshops and visits to at least two Chinese cities, which were selected on the basis of local research strengths and industrial clusters. The UK participants were recruited through networking organisations like AURIL and KTN, ICUK also worked closely with the local Science & Technology (S&T) authorities and their technology transfer agencies to deliver these events. UK technology-based companies and institutes can access UK government funding to demonstrate your technology and services in China at sector-focused events in key Chinese regional cities.
In 2014-2015, five technology partnering events - a Terahertz technology event in Chengdu and Beijing, Advanced manufacturing and Smart Materials events in Shanghai and Personalised Medicine events in Beijing and Hong Kong were organised in conjunction with local Science and Technology Commissions in China and local research institutes. The events were very successful in raising the profile of UK technologies/companies in China, allowing them to identify new partnering opportunities and increase their understanding of the Chinese market. UK institutions also gained a greater understanding about China?s innovation policies, support structure and key decision makers.
Example outcomes:
- Arcola signed a joint venture agreement with Shanghai-based Horizon Fuel Cell to create Horizon Fuel Cell UK. With the support from Innovate UK, Arcola has also successfully secured a £1 million grant to manufacture fuel cells in the UK. In April 2014, Horizon Fuel Cell Shanghai completed its IP transfer to Arcola, meanwhile manufacturing systems arrived in the UK to produce the first stacks of fuel cell in the UK.
- QMUL has signed a £160K contract research agreement with 38th Institute of CETC (CST38) to develop the THz scanner for airport security. Furthermore, with the support from the SIN Beijing team, QMUL applied for HEFCE Research Partnership Investment Fund for establishing a ?UK-China THz Joint Innovation Centre' with a potential Chinese investment of £20 million in the UK.
- After the Smart Materials event in 2015, BioMin has recently signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Kang Wang and started their first collaboration with China.
For further outcomes, please see evaluation report.
The sectors we will focus on our upcoming partnering events are likely to be Internet of Things (IoT), ICT, Big Data, Digital Manufacturing, Agriculture Technology and Smart Energy. Please check our News section for information on future events and when to apply.
Please click here to find out more about our previous events.
