The Sino-UK Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum is co-organised by the Western Returned Scholars Association - Chinese Overseas-Educated  Scholars Association and the Technology and Management for Development Centre of Oxford University. It will take place in Beijing on September 10th.

Western Returned Scholars Association - Chinese Overseas-Educated Scholars Association (WRSA - COSA) is an association of Overseas returned scholars and was relations between knowledge, aspirations and productivity.  in 1913 in Beijing. Its 102-year history of achievements includes being one of the 21 mass organizations led by Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. As China’s oldest and most influential non-governmental organization, WRSA - COSA has a widespread foundation. Its current President is Dr. Zhu Chen , Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Technology and Management for Development Centre(TMCD) is a research centre of Oxford University's Department of International Development. It is an outgrowth of the ground-breaking work of ODID's world leading development economists including Frances Stewart, Sanjaya Lall, Adrian Wood and Valpy FitzGerald in the field of trade/foreign direct investment, technology and competitiveness since 1970s. TMCD aims to address some of the most important issues related to technology and management facing public and private policymakers today. The Centre also serves as a global nerve centre for cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research into the development of technology and management in the developing world.

The main theme of the Sino-UK Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum is about knowledge and talents exchange and innovation collaboration between China and UK.

The objective of the activity is to 1) provide a platform to discuss the challenges in innovation and economic growth facing both countries, the role that a closer China-UK innovation & entrepreneurship collaboration in addressing this, 2) promote greater knowledge and talent exchange and innovation collaboration between the two countries, and 3) communicate this to policy makers, practitioners, academics and the wider community in both countries.

At the China side, top leaders of  the National Congress and the CPPCC are invited to give speeches at the forum.

The speakers include:

Madam Chunlan Sun

She currently serves as the Head of the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and is a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China. From 2009 to 2014, Sun served in two prominent regional posts, first as Communist Party Secretary of Fujian province, then Party Secretary of Tianjin, one of China's four direct-controlled municipalities. Her tenure in Fujian made her the second female provincial-level party chief since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Dr Zhu Chen

He currently serves as the Vice-Chairman of Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress; President, Chinese Medical Association.

Madam Yaping Deng

She is a Chinese table tennis player, who won six world championships and four Olympic championships between 1989 and 1997. She is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.  From 1990 to 1997, she retained the title of world No. 1 ranked female table tennis player for 8 years. After retiring at the end of the 1997 season, Deng served on the International Olympic Committee's ethics and athletes commissions. She is also a member of the elite Laureus World Sports Academy, and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.She gained a bachelor's degree from Tsinghua University, a master's degree from the University of Nottingham, and as of March 2006, was continuing to study for a PhD. in Land Economy at the University of Cambridge (Jesus College). She was voted Chinese female athlete of the century, and joined the International Table Tennis Federation Hall of Fame in 2003.

Mr Chaoyong Wang

He is the founding partner and Chief Executive Officer of ChinaEquity International Holding Co., Ltd., a China-based independent venture capital firm which focuses on the technology, media and telecommunications sectors in Greater China. Before founding ChinaEquity in 1999, Mr. Wang had spent 12 years in the investment banking and financial services industry with Chase, Standard & Poors, Morgan Stanley and the China Development Bank. During that time, he headed Morgan Stanley’s Beijing operation for three years.

Mr. Wang presently serves on the board of directors of several companies including Rising Tech Co., Longshine Info. Co., Futong Science & Tech Co., and Infront Asia Ltd. He is also serves as the Independent Director of The 9 Ltd., E-Future Information Technology Inc., and Beijing Beida Jade Bird Universal Sci-Tech Co., Ltd. Mr. Wang has won several venture capital awards in China, serves as an advisor to several government funds and organizations and is a member of the Board of Governors and the Secretary General of China Venture Capital Association. He is the Co-Chairman of China Team, the first Chinese competition team of The America’s Cup.

The speakers from the UK include:

Mark Walport

Sir Mark Jeremy Walport, FRS, FRCP, FRCPath, FMedSci, is a medical scientistand the Government Chief Scientific Adviser in the United Kingdom. Walport was awarded a PhD for research into complement receptors under the supervision of Peter Lachmann in 1986 at the University of Cambridge. Previously Walport was Director of the Wellcome Trust from 2003 to 2013. Before this, he was Professor of Medicine (from 1991) and Head of the Division of Medicine (from 1997) at Imperial College London, where he led a research team that focused on the immunology and genetics of rheumatic diseases. Walport was knighted in the 2009 New Year Honours list for services to medical research. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2011.

Professor Xiaolan Fu

Professor Xiaolan Fu is Founding Director of the Technology and Management Centre for Development (TMCD), Professor of Technology and International Development at the University of Oxford. She is a world leading expert on innovation, technology and industrialisation in developing countries. Her recent books include China's Path to innovation, China’s Role in Global Economic Recovery, and The Rise of Technological Power in the South. She has also published extensively in leading international journals. She is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, and serves on the Editorial Boards of six other international journals. She received the European Commission Gate2Growth 2005 'European Best Paper' Award and has received large research grants from prestigious funding bodies including the European Commission, ESRC, EPSRC, and British Academy. She has been consultant for UNDESA, UNCTAD, UNIDO, ILO, and the Commonwealth Secretariat. Professor Fu serves on the Advisory Expert Group of the OECD Global Investment Forum and the DFID/ESRC Economic Growth Directorate (DEGP), and is President of the Chinese Economic Association (Europe) and CEA (UK) in 2010-11. She is also a Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge and University of Tsinghua, and a Visiting Professor at Fudan University.