From May 19 to 23, 2026, at the invitation of the Thailand Science Research and Innovation (TSRI) 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 14^th Annual Meeting of the Global Research Council (GRC) in Bangkok, Thailand.

The theme of this year’s GRC annual meeting was “Open Science” and “Research for Sustainable Communities.” Over 300 representatives from more than 90 research funding agencies and international scientific organizations participated and adopted statements of principles on these two topics.

During the meeting, President Dou Xiankang was invited to speak on behalf of funding agencies from the Asia-Pacific region at the session on “Research for Sustainable Communities.” He introduced two core NSFC practices: open-sharing of scientific instruments and NSFC joint funds. He noted that, in order to fully implement the guiding principles of President Xi Jinping’s important speech at the symposium on strengthening basic research and his key instructions to NSFC, NSFC has proactively integrated itself into the global innovation network, supports Chinese and foreign scientists to engage in international cooperation based on large-scale scientific facilities both at home and abroad, develops online platforms for showcasing and disseminating major research instrumentation projects, and promotes the open sharing of instruments. At the same time, NSFC has been continuously improving its diversified investment mechanisms, jointly setting up joint funds with local governments, enterprises, industries and other stakeholders to channel social resources into basic research, thereby advancing industry‑university‑research collaborative innovation and enhancing scientific and technological innovation capacity in selected regions, industries and sectors. Finally, he stressed that NSFC attaches great importance to international scientific cooperation and stands ready to work with global research partners to build a more dynamic, resilient and inclusive research cooperation ecosystem, powered by open science and anchored in community empowerment.

In addition, President Dou Xiankang took the opportunity of the annual meeting to engage extensively in bilateral and multilateral discussions and exchanges. He held talks with heads of funding agencies and international organizations such as UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Dutch Research Council (NWO), TSRI, Science Europe (SE), the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), the Uruguayan Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII), the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR), the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), and the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) on strengthening bilateral and multilateral cooperation and fostering young talent, and reached a series of consesus on cooperation.

During the visit, the delegation also visited the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) of Thailand and conduct in-depth discussions with its President Sukit Limpijumnong on promoting cooperation in application‑oriented basic research and enhancing the cultivation and exchanges of young researchers. The delegation also visited the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Kingdom of Thailand and held discussions with Ambassador Zhang Jianwei.

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

Group Photo of the 14^th Annual Meeting of the Global Research Council

President Dou Xiankang spoke on behalf of the Asia-Pacific regional research funding institutions during the session on "Research for Sustainable Communities"

President Dou Xiankang met with Katja Becker, President of the German Research Foundation (DFG)

Director Dou Xiankang met with Sir Ian Chapman, Chief Executive Officer of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)