On the 25th of September 2023, the 7th China-UK Innovation and Development Forum took place in Beijing, China. The theme of this year's forum was "Cooperation in Science and Technology between the UK and China for Global Good."

The forum was co-organised by the Technology and Management Centre for Development (TMCD) at the University of Oxford, the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institutes of Science and Development (CASISD), the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Technology for Development (CASTED) of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the China-Britain Business Council.

Several distinguished speakers attended the forum and delivered speeches, including Ms. Geraldine McCafferty, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Beijing; Professor Xiaolan Fu, the Director of TMCD and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences; Ms. Yan Wu, Deputy Director of the Bureau of International Cooperation, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In addition, academic scholars from institutions such as CASISD, CASTED, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, the University of Macau, the University of Edinburgh, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, and the Sino-UK Innovation Policy and Management Research Network (IPRN) contributed to the forum. Government officials from the British Embassy in Beijing and industry experts from the China-Britain Business Council and Oxford University Innovation Technology Transfer (Suzhou) Co., Limited also participated in the discussions.

In her remarks, Deputy Head McCafferty pointed out that the China-UK Innovation Development Forum has built a platform for experts in the innovation field and business representatives from both China and the UK to communicate and cooperate. It has promoted cooperation between the two sides in areas such as technological innovation, digital economy, and sustainable development, serving as an excellent example for UK-China collaboration.

During her speech, Deputy Director Wu proposed to further strengthen the research cooperation between China and the UK in interdisciplinary studies and think tanks, grasp the new trends of the digital age, and promote mutual complementarity and win-win cooperation between the two countries in the field of artificial intelligence and digital technology industries.

The China-UK Innovation and Development Forum has been held for six consecutive sessions and has received strong support from the governments of both China and the UK. In 2019, relying on the strategic cooperation agreement signed between TMCD and CASISD, the IPRN was established. The establishment of the research network has provided an important platform to promote pragmatic cooperation between China and the UK. At this year's forum, experts, scholars, and key journal editors from both China and the UK gathered to jointly discuss the direction of global technological innovation cooperation, share new development opportunities, and jointly respond to new challenges.