On November 10, 2025, Professor Dou Xiankang, President of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), and Professor Jiang Song, Vice President of NSFC, met with the delegation led by Professor Christopher Smith, International Champion of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Executive Chair of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) .

First, President Dou Xiankang held a brief meeting with Professor Christopher Smith. He extended a warm welcome to Professor Smith on his first visit to NSFC and introduced NSFC's latest initiatives in supporting basic research and applied basic research, promoting talent development, and deepening international cooperation. He pointed out that UKRI is one of NSFC's most important partners in Europe, and expressed the hope that both sides will continue to deepen cooperation to facilitate extensive exchanges between young students and researchers from universities of the two countries.

Subsequently, Vice President Jiang Song presided over the discussion. He stated that NSFC and UKRI have achieved fruitful cooperation results over the past 16 years, and hoped that in the future, both sides will carry out practical cooperation in a wider range of fields and leverage the platform of the China-UK Biennial Strategic Dialogue to conduct exchanges and mutual learning.

Professor Christopher Smith expressed his appreciation for NSFC's reform initiatives. He also introduced the work of UKRI, especially its subordinate agency Innovate UK, in advancing knowledge progress and promoting the integrated development of scientific research and industry. He said that UKRI looks forward to deepening exchanges and cooperation with NSFC, joining hands to address global challenges in the field of sustainable development, and strengthening inter-institutional dialogue and exchanges on research management issues of common concern.

The two sides exchanged experiences and practices on topics such as how to support basic research to promote industrial development, and both agreed to take the upcoming NSFC-UKRI Biennial Meeting as an opportunity to jointly plan and arrange future cooperation.