Dr. He Fuxiang

Chinese Embassy in Denmark 

(October 26, 2021)

Dear Mr. Thomas Trøst Hansen, Director of the Danish Innovation Center in Shanghai, Dear Prof. Stine Haakonsson, Director for social sciences, the Sino-Danish Center for Higher Education and Research, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good morning, Good afternoon,

It is my great pleasure to participate in this seminar jointly organized by the Danish Innovation Center in Shanghai and the Sino-Danish Center for Higher Education and Research. First of all, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy in Denmark, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my congratulations to the convening of the conference and my heartfelt appreciations to those who have made contributions to make it happen !

Denmark is one of the first western countries to establish a diplomatic relationship with the People's Republic of China. The Chinese and Danish governments attach great importance to the development of bilateral relations. After more than 70 years of joint efforts by both sides, China-Denmark cooperation has achieved fruitful results and brought tangible benefits to our two countries and people. In 2008, China and Denmark announced the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership, and Denmark became the only country with comprehensive strategic partnership with China in the Nordic region. After more than 10 years of joint efforts by both sides, the China-Denmark comprehensive strategic partnership has continued to expand in breadth and depth. The two sides have carried out fruitful cooperation in many fields,including politics, economy, science, technology and innovation(STI), education, etc and achieved fruitful results. In order to further strengthen the bilateral relations, the Chinese and Danish governments announced the establishment of a joint work program in 2017 to further promote cooperation in key areas phase by phase. Through implementation of the first phase of the joint work program during the year of 2017 to 2020, cooperation between our two countries in the areas of economy, STI, and education, etc, has been greatly improved. At present, our two governments are actively discussing the key components of the second phase of the joint work program for the year of 2021 to 2024.

Scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation is an integral part of the China-Denmark relationship. In 1985, the Chinese and Danish governments signed the "Protocol on Scientific and Technological Cooperation between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark". In 2007, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Danish Ministry of Science,Technology and Innovation signed the "Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Cooperation in Science and Technology ". In 2010, the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science and eight Danish universities signed a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of the Sino-Danish Center for Higher Education and Research with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 2017, the Department of International Cooperation, Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Danish Innovation Fund signed the "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Science,Technology and Innovation ". After more than 30 years of joint efforts from both sides, China-Denmark exchanges and cooperation in the areas of STI has achieved fruitful results. The two sides have jointly convened several Joint Committee Meetings for scientific and technological cooperation. A number of agreements have been signed in the priority areas of mutual interest, including renewable energy, bio medicine, ecological and environmental protection, sustainable agriculture, comprehensive utilization of resources, smart cities, transportation, etc. The two sides have held several seminars and jointly funded more than 30 joint research projects and cultivated more than 1,000 masters and several hundred of doctoral students. According to a statistics, from the year of 2010 to 2018, the number of papers co authored by Chinese and Danish researchers increased by 430%. China-Denmark scientific and technological cooperation has become a highlight of the China-Denmark relationship. In order to further strengthen the cooperation with China in the areas of STI and higher education, the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs jointly established the Danish Innovation Center in Shanghai and the China Office of the Sino-Denmark Center for Higher Education and Research in Beijing as a bridgehead to facilitate the cooperation.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to cooperation in the areas of STI with Denmark, and regards STI cooperation as a key component of the bilateral relationship. On May 7 this year, China and Denmark jointly convened the 20th  Joint Committee Meeting on scientific and technological cooperation to review the achievements and exchanged ideas on the priorities for future cooperation and reached many consensuses. Currently, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology is continuing communication with the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science on the priorities for future cooperation.

You may have noticed that since 2017, the Chinese government has successively promulgated the "Data Protection Law", "Cyber Security Law" and "Personal Information Protection Law". Some friends from the Danish STI community are wondering whether the Chinese government will divert from its opening up and international scientific and technological cooperation policies. I would like to take this opportunity to give a clarification. The main purposes of the Cyber Security Law is to prevent attacks, intrusions, interference, destruction, infringements and accidents on the network by imposing basic security obligations on network operators and enhanced security obligations on key cyber infrastructure operators in order to keep the network in a stable and reliable state and secure integrity, confidentiality, and availability of the network. The "Data Security Law" ,treating data as an specific issue independent of the network, establishes a national legal framework for data security, stipulating the measures and obligations of organizations and individuals to support and promote data security, government data security and utilization, etc. The "Personal Information Protection Law" draws on international legislation experiences, especially the EU's "General Data Protection Regulations", to establish a legal framework, stipulating the principles for processing and cross border flow of personal information and the rights and obligations of individuals in dealing with personal information, specifies the authorities and their responsibilities for personal information protection, etc. As Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stated, China’s door of open up will not be closed, rather open wider and wider. China will work with our partners to create an open, fair, just, and non-discriminatory environment for scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation with an open mind and more proactive measures in order to achieve mutual benefits and sharing.

Over the past four decades of reform and opening up, China has been a participant, beneficiary, contributor and promoter of scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation. The Chinese and international STI communities are increasingly interdependent. So far, China has established scientific and technological relations with more than 160 countries, signed intergovernmental agreements on scientific and technological cooperation with more than 120 countries including Denmark, participated in more than 200 international organizations and multilateral mechanisms and a number of international scientific and engineering programs, including the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor program(ITER) and the Square Kilometer Array program(SKA),etc. Backdrop against the shared challenges of mankind, such as climate change, scarce of energy and resources, and pandemics, it is impossible for any country to address the global challenges alone. Chinese STI community has never been a isolated one. In the future, China will not close its door and engage in innovations alone, rather integrate into the global STI network more actively through strengthening international cooperation in all possible ways, deeply participating in global governance of scientific and technological issues, and making greater China’s contribution in fighting against the global challenges. China’s "Three Laws" is precisely to follow the trend of global digital economy development to establish a more transparent legal framework for data governance in China in accordance with international rules and better regulate the cross-border flow of personal data in scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation. It will not hinder the normal cross-border flow of data in the STI exchanges and cooperation between our two countries, rather can provide a more transparent legal framework for it. Panelists of this seminar will elaborate and discuss the purpose, main components and potential impact of the law on the China-Denmark scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation later. I am convinced that through the elaborations and discussions, those who have inquiries will be able to correctly interpret this law and the relevant Chinese data protection laws and enhance confidence in the STI exchanges and cooperation between our two countries .

I have noticed that data governance is one of the top priorities for the EU as well. China is willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation on data governance with the EU and its member states, including Denmark, and make China’s contributions to the global data governance.

Last but not the least, I wish the seminar a great success.

Thank you.