From May 18 to 22, 2025, at the invitation of the Saudi Arabia's Research, Development and Innovation Authority (RDIA), King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), President Dou Xiankang of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), led a delegation to attend the 13^th Annual Meeting of the Global Research Council (GRC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The theme of this year's GRC Annual Meeting was "Research Management in the Era of Artificial Intelligence" and "Co-Creation for Addressing Global Challenges". Leaders and representatives from over 90 research funding agencies and international scientific organizations attended the meeting and adopted a joint Statement of Principles on these topics.

During the meeting, President Dou Xiankang was invited to present an overview of the 2024 GRC Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting co-hosted by NSFC and the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka (NSF Sri Lanka) in Beijing. He emphasized that international scientific cooperation is crucial for the prosperity and vitality of the Asia-Pacific region. Funding agencies in the Asia-Pacific region, he noted, should deepen international cooperation, enhance policy exchanges and mutual learning, and work together to address common challenges.

President Dou Xiankang participated in two annual meeting panel discussions and delivered a concluding speech on behalf of Asia-Pacific regional research funding agencies during the release of the principle statement for the "Co-Creation for Addressing Global Challenges" agenda item. He highlighted NSFC 's achievements in improving cooperation mechanisms, facilitating talent mobility, and integrating innovation resources, with particular emphasis on the effective work of NSFC in joint funding programs in recent years. He concluded by stating that NSFC places high importance on international scientific collaboration and stands ready to work with global research partners to build a more dynamic, resilient, and inclusive ecosystem for international research collaboration, focusing on major scientific issues and common development challenges.

In addition, President Dou Xiankang took the opportunity of attending the annual meeting to conduct extensive bilateral and multilateral dialogues and exchanges. He held discussions with leaders from funding agencies and international organizations, including the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), and Science Europe, focusing on bilateral and multilateral collaboration as well as the cultivation of young talent. He also interacted with heads of research funding agencies from countries including Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, and Iran.

During the visit, President Dou also met with the Director-General of RDIA, Dr. Mohammed Alotaibi, and reached a consensus on promoting the signing of a cooperation agreement between the two institutions and jointly supporting the exchange and collaboration between young researchers from both countries. The delegation also visited the Chinese Embassy in Saudi Arabia and held discussions with Ambassador Chang Hua.

Also on the delegation were Fan Yingjie, Director General of the Bureau of International Cooperation, and Rong Nianhe, Deputy Director of the Department of Asia, Africa and International Organizations division under the same Bureau at NSFC.

Group Photo of the Presidents of GRC Asia-Pacific Regional Research Funding Agenc ies

President Dou Xiankang delivered a concluding speech on behalf of Asia-Pacific regional research funding agencies during the session titled "Co-Creation for Addressing Global Challenges"

President Dou Xiankang met with Dr. Mohammed Alotaibi, Director General of the Saudi Arabian Research, Development and Innovation Authority (RDIA)

President Dou Xiankang met with Professor Alejandro Adem, Chair of the Global Research Council’s Governing Board and President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)