Strengthening Research Partnership: ZJU Delegation in Indonesia

A ZJU delegation led by Executive Vice President SONG Yonghua was invited to attend the China-Indonesia Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation Forum held in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on November 27.

At the forum, ZJU and Indonesia’s Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) together unveiled a formal research partnership by establishing the China-Indonesia Joint Laboratory on Biotechnology.

The joint laboratory aims primarily to develop sustainable research collaborations by utilizing biological resources from both countries and promote the benefits of biotechnological innovation. The two parties will work together on the discovery of active ingredients of natural origin and the research and development of comprehensive health products. On ZJU's side, the lab will be coordinated by the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, with contributions from chemistry, agriculture, and life sciences faculty.

The inauguration was witnessed by top-level officials of both countries: Chinese Vice Premier LIU Yandong; Puan Maharani, Indonesian Coordinating Minister of Human Development and Cultural Affairs.

In one of the forum sessions, SONG Yonghua was invited to give a talk about collaborative research. SONG shared ZJU’s strategy and practices related to China’s “Belt and Road Initiative”. Taking the joint laboratory as a case in point, he reviewed the progression of bilateral cooperation and highlighted the lab’s mission of facilitating sci-tech and innovation cooperation between China and Indonesia.

After the forum, the ZJU delegation visited the headquarters of BPPT, where they received a warm welcome from Eniya Listiani Dewi, deputy chairperson for agroindustry technology and biotechnology, and Edi Wahjono, director of Bio-industry Technology Center. The two sides looked back on the fruitful cooperation in biological and marine technologies and explored the deepening of partnership.

The China-Indonesia Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation Forum brought together over 100 participants from renowned institutions and enterprises in both countries, including Tsinghua, Huawei, and Institut Teknologi Bandung.