Recently, the 2025 Pujiang Innovation Forum was held in Shanghai. The opening ceremony featured addresses by Liu Guozhong, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, and Nikolai Snopkov, First Vice Premier of Belarus, the Forum’s guest country of honor this year. Following the ceremony, Liu Guozhong, Snopkov, and other dignitaries visited the China-Belarus Sci-Tech Innovation Cooperation Achievements Exhibition and attended the closing ceremony ofthe “Years of Belarus-China Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation (2024-2025)”.
The China Branch of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB), jointly established by Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) and NASB, was featured inthe achievement exhibition. A newly signed cooperation agreement between the two sides was included in the signing ceremony during the closing event. Vice President of NPU Yue Xiaokui attended the event on behalf of the university.
As the only overseas branch established by NASB, NPU has placed high priority on its development, pursuing strategic planning and practical advancement. The branch’s achievements have garnered significant attention. During the exhibition, the Vice Premiers of both countries visited the branch's booth, received a briefing on its progress, and engaged in in-depth discussions with NPU representatives regarding collaboration details.
The branch's development track record is impressive. In August 2024, an agreement to establish the branch at NPU was signed under the witness of the premiers of both countries. NPU has since thoroughly implemented this agreement. The branch was officially inaugurated in Xi'an in June 2025, creating a high-level international platform for innovation and openness between China and Belarus. To date, NPU has successfully hosted two sessions of high-level expert exchange events, attracting over 150 Belarusian experts to collaborate through the branch. More than 20 joint projects have been initiated, leading to the establishment of a national-level overseas talent exchange base and the Shaanxi Province “Belt and Road” Joint Laboratory.
During the closing ceremony, government departments, research institutions, universities, and enterprises from China and Belarus signed a total of seven cooperation agreements. Among them, Vice President Yue Xiaokui, on behalf of NPU, signed the the “NPU-NASB Cooperation Roadmap (2026–2027)”, which serves as a key mechanism for deepening the branch’s substantive development. This roadmap focuses on four major fields: aerospace science and technology, new materials, optics, and ecology, encompassing 14 specific cooperative projects. It is set to further energize the branch’s development and propel educational, scientific, technological, and talent collaboration between the two sides to deeper and broader levels.
It is said thatthe “Years of Belarus-China Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation (2024-2025)” was jointly launched by the two premiers in Minsk in August 2024. The achievement exhibition systematically presented the phased outcomes of the Innovation Year through six sections, including platform construction, sci-tech and cultural exchange, and results transformation. The branch's appearance in this exhibition and the closing ceremony not only signifies high recognition of NPU's efforts in advancing and constructing the branch with high standards but also marks a new starting point for deepening bilateral cooperation. Seizing this opportunity, NPU will continue to promote two-way exchanges of high-level talent at the branch, deepen sci-tech innovation cooperation in key fields, and, building on the China-Belarus foundation, extend its influence to Russian-speaking regions. Under the “Belt and Road” framework,NPU will accelerate the integration of innovation resources, contributing NPU's strength to regional sustainable development and shared prosperity.
(Text: Zhou Fanghui; Images: Xiang Dan; Review: Xiang Dan, Ma Xiping; Translators: Yang Runze; Mei Leyun)
