Knowledge Network > Previous Events

Previous Events

In this section you can find information about the various events that we have held in China and the UK. Please click here to learn about upcoming events.

UK-China Agri-Tech Innovation Forum, Beijing

Venue: Beijingi, China
Date: December 2010

ICUK held a successful agri-tech event in Beijing on the 1st and 2nd of December 2010, which included an innovation forum and a partnering event. 11 UK companies and research institutes attended the event, which was organised by ICUK, with the help of Science and Innovation Network funding, and the Beijing Commission and Beijing Technology Exchange and Promotion Centre.

After speeches from David Bacon, the Science and Innovation Consul of the British Consulate General in Beijing and Jiang Danping of the China Rural Technology Development Centre, a signing ceremony took place, where 7 of the UK participants signed MOU’s with influential Chinese companies and research institutes.

The participants presented their technologies to a Chinese audience of over 100 people from various local agri-tech organisations in the morning, then in the afternoon a partnering event was held, where the UK participants each had one-to-one discussions with Chinese companies. Many Chinese companies expressed an interest in future collaborations with the UK participants, both commercially and on research activities.

On the 2nd of December the participants were taken on a visit to several science parks and research institutes around Beijing, including the large-scale Beijing Agriculture city, where they saw the impressive facilities and were able to discuss problems and requirements with Chinese producers.

Partnership and knowledge transfer with China Conference

Venue: London
Date: December 2010

Partnership and knowledge transfer with China was discussed at an event, run by Innovation China UK (ICUK) in collaboration with Queen Mary Innovation Ltd (QMI) on Friday 5 November at Queen Mary University, to assess the experience gained and the lessons learned through ICUK Programme.

The event, which was attended by over 60 delegates from universities across the country, was chaired by Principal Professor Simon Gaskell and Caroline Quest, managing director of QMI. A panel of high profile speakers including Paul Thorning, Director of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation at the University of Bradford and Dr. Zhao Gang, from the China Academy of Science and Technology for Development led discussions on issues surrounding the commercialisation of technology research in China.

Caroline Quest, Managing Director for QMI, summarised the benefits of the programme and the conclusions made from the day’s discussion:  “ICUK, an off shoot from QMI, is an enabling organisation designed to help business and academia overcome the cultural and regulatory barriers to working with China. This expert support has resulted in over 60 companies and 250 academics collaborating in early stage technology transfer between both countries. The resultant impact of these collaborations has enhanced the international reputation of both Queen Mary and the UK as a leading force in innovation.”

 

ICUK holds successful Technology Partnering Event in Shanghai

Venue: Shanghai, China
Date: June 2010

ICUK held a successful technology partnering event in Shanghai on the 24th and 25th of June 2010. The ICUK Partnering Event began at 1.30pm with speeches made by Richard Mills, the Science and Innovation Consul of the British Consulate General in Shanghai, Manyi Cristofoli, Executive Director of ICUK and Ms Ruan Xiufan from the Biomedicine Registration Section of the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration. 

Following the speeches, 8 British companies and PIs presented their technologies to a Chinese audience of around 60 people from various local companies. Once the presentations were over, the presenters were able to have one-to-one discussions with Chinese companies interested in their technologies. The discussions centred around the possibility of future collaboration, both commercially and on research activities.

On the 25th the British companies were taken on a visit to the cutting edge Zhang Jiang Science Park in Shanghai, and also visited a contract research company and the Chinese medical device start-up Micro port, where they saw the impressive facilities and got an idea of the scale of the research and development industry in China.

The ICUK Technology Partnering Event allowed UK companies that had never been to China and didn’t know what to expect to get a glimpse of the Chinese market. After being asked lots of questions about their products by the Chinese participants they became aware of the business opportunities that China has to offer, and are now thinking about what they are going to do next to help them break into China.

RVC visit to Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU)

Venue: Wuhan, China
Date: October 2009

In October, ICUK partner, the Royal Veterinary College visited the Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU), Wuhan, China for a 2 day Sino-British International Conference on dairy production and disease prevention and control. The aim of the conference was to discuss the ongoing experimental work between HZAU and RVC on cattle fertility and longevity as well as exploring possible future collaborative opportunities between the two parties. The meeting was attended by 160 delegates from Government Agencies, Dairy Associations, Universities and Research Centres from throughout China in addition to the UK party from the RVC. During the visit, it was confirmed that the Ministry of Science and Technology in China have awarded a grant of 1,000,000 yuan RMB (appox £100K) to Professor Shujun Zhang of HZAU to continue the ICUK collaborative project with Prof Wathes from RVC on dairy cow fertility and longevity.


ICT manufacturing, broadband system, Copper Clad Laminate, and equipment manufacturing workshop

Venue: Dongguan, China
Date: October 2009

ICUK held a technology promotion event in Dongguan with the intention of matching UK technology to Dongguan industry. Dongguan has now become the Chinese hub of ICT manufacturing, broadband system, Copper Clad Laminate, and equipment manufacturing.
Donggaun industry demand is strong in the following fields:

  • Computer and telecommunication equipment manufacturing
  • Environmental protection
  • Paper manufacturing and paper products
  • Food and beverage processing and manufacturing
  • Animation, gaming, creative
  • Logistics and financial software

At the event three commercialisation contracts were signed between three Dongguan companies and three ICUK projects. Read more here.

 

Biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries

Venue: Shanghai
Date: October 2009

Shanghai has predominantly strong technology demand in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.
The technologies which local industries are seeking include:

  • Medical imaging product/method
  • Medical devices (diagnostic equipment/ methods for liver cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, syphilis, AIDS etc)
  • Diagnostic assay
  • Medical stent/ hearing aids/ pacemaker/ biomesh for curing hernia.
  • OTC medicines
  • Co-operating with TCM companies to identify new compounds

A bio-pharma event organised by Shanghai Science &Technology Commission was held in October. ICUK will be attending this event to promote technologies and companies from the UK.

Building A UK-China Partnership In Sustainable Energy and Environmental Technologies for Buildings

Venue: Beijing China
Date: September 2009

The forum was jointly organised by ICUK, University of Nottingham (UK), Tsinghua University (China) and China Academy of Building research (China). It aimed to establish a platform for distinguished academia, industrial and governmental personnel from both the UK and China exchanging ideas and networking. International collaborations and technology transfer between the academics and industry in both China and UK was also sought.

The forum began with introducing the current status and practice in sustainable energy and environment technologies for buildings. The latest research and development in this area was discussed and the challenges and opportunities in the processes of development and applications were highlighted.

 

UK-China Workshop on Freshwater Ecology Research and Environment Monitoring Technology

Venue: Wuhan City, China
Date: May 2009

Initiated by key academics from Queen Mary, University of London, ICUK held a workshop on "Freshwater Ecology Research and Environment Monitoring Technology" in Wuhan, China. This event was led by Queen Mary, University of London, the lead institution of the ICUK programme.

This event was held to promote knowledge transfer between the two countries, with the emphasis on transferring existing knowledge and best practices in the area of freshwater ecology from the UK to China to assist its efforts to improve freshwater environment in China.

Presentations from the event

 

Sino-EU GP Traditional Chinese Medicine Workshop 

Venue: Beijing, China
Date: 11-13 January 2009

This workshop was organised by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS), Innovation China UK (ICUK) and EU FP7 project – GP TCP Consortium (GP-TCM).

The event was held to bring together experts on TCM from China and the UK and to discuss the huge market potential of TCM and the value of its research. Over 100 TCM experts attended talks addressing the key difficulties, challenges and opportunities for TCM to enter the international market. Among the issues that were recognised was the need for further strengthening China-EU cooperation in TCM by establishing long-term collaborations focusing on key areas where TCM has demonstrated unique curing advantages. The establishment of a Sino-EU TCB cooperation agreement was also proposed to accelerate the progress of joint Sino-EU research partnerships in TCM.


ICUK IP Workshop

Venue: Nanjing, China
Date: 5 November 2008

In order to facilitate further, the UK-China knowledge transfer collaboration, the ICUK organized a small-scale Intellectual Property (IP) workshop for the ICUK project managers and academics that were in Nanjing to attend the 1st Jiangsu International Technology Transfer Conference. The ICUK invited IP specialists from both the UK and China to talk about some key issues in Intellectual Property & technology collaboration in China, IP protection in international science and technology collaboration.

Issues such as major differences between UK and Chinese patent law were highlighted at the workshop as well as the differences between the two countries when pursing infringement actions. However, it was noted that both patent application processes were quite similar. Furthermore, it was emphasised that China had improved its IPR protection in the past decade and western criticisms of the IPR situation were exaggerated.

 

Commercialisation of Photonics Technologies from Universities

Venue: Shanghai, China
Date: 4 November 2008

The ICUK workshop on “Commercialisation of Photonics Technologies from Universities” took place at the Asia Optical Fibre and Optoelectronic Exposition and Conference (AOE 2008) in Shanghai on Saturday November 4th. The workshop was organised by ICUK in conjunction with the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton and Prof. Wei-Ping Huang of MacMaster University Canada , Director of HISENSE Broadband Multimedia Technologies. An audience of over 60 people including invited guests from 20 of China’s top academic and research institutions in the field of photonics attended the event.

Highlights of this workshop included a talk by Prof. David Payne, Director of the ORC about his experience of setting up a cluster of 10 spin-out companies around the ORC in Southampton and establishing a set of “Dos’ and Don’ts” for commercialising outputs from University research. Academics from various Chinese Universities also discussed their experiences in using optoelectronic sensors in mine safety and also technology transfer in Wuhan which is know as the “Optics Valley of China”.
In addition to hosting the workshop ICUK and the ORC organised a highly successful stand for the three days of the trade show. Representatives from SPI Lasers and Stratophase joined those from ICUK and the ORC in showcasing work from the ORC spin-out companies and ICUK, attracting a steady stream of interested parties to what was undoubtedly one of the most vibrant and popular stands in the entire show.

 

Building a UK-China Partnership in GNSS and Geospatial Sciences

Venue: Wuhan, China
Date: 22 -23 October 2008

This workshop brought together a broad range of top experts from China and UK including senior government officials, industry representatives from leading Chinese surveying and mapping companies and key academics of leading universities/research institutions.

This high profile workshop provided an important platform for UK-China professionals in GNSS and Geospatial Sciences to present and discuss recent developments, strategy, education and applications in the public safety critical areas such as monitoring geo-hazards. Through open debate and discussions, mutual understanding about the opportunities and challenges on the launch of new satellite navigation systems and new signals was achieved.

The workshop has been confirmed as a great success with many potential collaborations being initiated not only between academics themselves but also with industries and between governments

 

China-UK Forum in Biomedical Innovation

Venue: Guangzhou, China
Date: March 2008

 

Launch of ICUK

Venue: London
Date: November 2007

Read the press release here.

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  • Last updated: 16/06/2011
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