Centre hosts Chinese regional leaders
13 September 2012
Regional leaders from Zhejiang province yesterday visited the Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, to continue developing scientific links between China and New Zealand. The purpose of their visit was to discuss collaborative research projects and learn from New Zealand experience in the commercialisation of research.
The Maurice Wilkins Centre is building portals into Asia for New Zealand science. “New Zealand’s strengths in biomedical science and clinical translation are greatly respected by our counterparts in Asia. By developing mutually-beneficial links between New Zealand and Asian countries we aim to expand both partners’ research programmes, which ultimately will benefit health and the economy,” says Director Professor Rod Dunbar.
The visitors are officials from a province that Professor Dunbar visited earlier this year, as part of a Maurice Wilkins Centre delegation to China. Their trip to New Zealand is intended to strengthen the developing relationship between the two countries. The visit also follows a recent trip by Chinese scientists and members of the Asian Chemical Biology Initiative.
The Chinese delegation toured Maurice Wilkins Centre facilities at The University of Auckland and held discussions with the Auckland UniServices Limited, the company that manages the university’s intellectual property. It was led by Dr Taiwei Jiang, General Director of the Department of Science and Technology, Zhejiang Provincial People's Government and Director of the Zhejiang Provincial Science and Technology Development Strategy Research Institute.
Pictured from left to right: Professor Rod Dunbar, Professor Jun Yang, Mr Peter Lai, Mr Wang Yiqi, Professor Xin Fu, Dr Taiwei Jiang