For a Better Tomorrow

AS early as 2000， Xi Jinping， then governor ofFujian Province in southeast China， made thedecision to launch Digital Fujian， a digitializationinitiative to promote e-government， digitaleconomy and smart society， which became the startingpoint of the Digital China Initiative. Today， digitalizationhas been widely extended to various fields suchas politics， economy， society， and ecology. Both China’sindustrial civilization and agricultural civilization areundergoing a profound transformation driven by digitalization.It is an irreversible trend， accelerating the applicationof information technology worldwide.

As the world’s two major economies and science andtechnology hubs， China and the EU have a strong resourcebase and broad cooperation space in the fieldsof digitalization， smart technology， green developmentand networking. Global economic growth can be moreefficient， eco-friendly and sustainable if China and theEU strengthen talent exchanges and cooperation， jointlyaddress the challenges brought about by digital transformation，and seize the opportunities unleashed by intelligentdevelopment.

There is a realistic foundation for carrying out talentexchanges and cooperation and promoting digital andintelligent transformation. Since the establishment ofthe China-EU High-Level People-to-People Exchange Di-alogue， the two have achieved remarkable cooperation resultsin fields like education policy and student and scholarexchanges. China has agreements with 22 EU memberstates on mutual recognition of degrees， and a guidelineon mutual recognition of credit between Chinese and EUhigher education institutions has been published. Accordingto Eurostat， there are about 86，000 Chinese students inthe EU while about 270，000 Chinese citizens work there.

China and the EU have a long-term and good basis forcooperation in scientific and technological research onthe environment， climate and water resources. Their cooperationin digitalization， smart technology and greendevelopment has also become increasingly close in recentyears. The two sides have signed a number of agreementson data flows， and the first meeting under the China-EUData Cross-Border Flow Communication Mechanism washeld in August this year.

Increased Chinese Investment

Chinese companies have continuedto increase their R&D investment in Europe，and European companies have alsoset up a large number of R&D centers inChina. For example， Huawei collaborateswith a number of European telecom operatorsto jointly promote the constructionof 5G networks. By the end of 2023，Huawei had built more than 100，000 5Gbase stations in Europe.

The world today is undergoing profoundchanges. The geopolitical situation is tense， unilateralism，protectionism and hegemonism are rampant，and globalization has encountered resistance， which haveall had a negative impact on China-EU talent exchangesand cooperation. However， both sides share similar developmentgoals， highly compatible concepts， and complementaryindustrial advantages. Besides， there is extensivecooperation space in the fields of green power， sci-techinnovation， and advanced manufacturing.

Cooperation in these areas will not only help promotehigh-quality development of the two economies， but alsoprovide a broad stage for their talents. In particular， in thefields of smart technology and digitalization， China andthe EU， as two major scientific and technological innovationforces， have their own advantages in technology researchand development， application scenarios and policysupport. They can strengthen cooperation and exchangesin artificial intelligence and intelligent manufacturing，and jointly promote scientific and technological innovationand industrial upgrading.

Areas for Joint Efforts

China and the EU should clarify the strategic targets offuture-oriented cooperation and construct a top-level design.The strategic goal of China-EU talent exchange andcooperation to promote digital and intelligent transformationshould be refined into top-level design and implementationmeasures. The roles and tasks of governmentdepartments should be clarified， and their initiatives andcreativity brought into play， which will promote a China-EU innovation community step by step.

China and the EU should improve their digital andintelligent cooperation mechanism and policy dialogueplatform， and strengthen policy communication，coordination and cooperation.They should also jointly formulatepolicy measures and standardspecifications for digital and intelligentdevelopment， and provide a more fair，transparent and predictable market environmentfor each other’s enterprises.

They should take technological cooperationas a breakthrough and persistin promoting multi-level cooperationby category. Some areas are easier tocooperate in and joint work can beaccelerated there， such as 5G， crossbordere-commerce， and e-payment. In some areas whereprogress is relatively slow， they should look for opportunities，especially focusing on key areas related to people’slivelihood.

They must take the initiative to plan for some majorissues involving new trends and new directions，complement each other’s advantages， and make jointbreakthroughs. By establishing joint R&D institutionsand cooperation in scientific research projects， they canstrengthen exchanges and cooperation in talents， fundsand technologies， and promote the application of scientificand technological achievements.

Non-governmental cooperation should be promotedto supplement governmental cooperation， and set a newtrend of international scientific and technological cooperationin the new era. The scientific and technologicalcommunity should be expanded through cooperation andconsensus-building. Non-governmental international scienceand technology organizations should participate inglobal science and technology governance and make theirvoice heard.

It is necessary to establish a mechanism for scientific，technological and people-to-people exchanges and gatherstrategic consensus. It is also necessary to promote thedeep integration and coordinated development of Chineseand European industries with enterprises as themain body， and build industrial clusters with internationalcompetitiveness.

Finally， attention must be paid to talent training andexchange. China and the EU should strengthen cooperationin talent training and exchanges， and jointly cultivatetalents in digital and intelligent technology withinternational vision and innovation capabilities. Throughscholarships， joint training programs， exchange of visitingscholars， exchanges and cooperation between talentsin scientific research， education， and industry will bepromoted.

Talent exchange and cooperation is a critical way topromote digital and intelligent transformation. It is alsoa long-term and arduous task， which requires both Chinaand the EU to work together and move forward together.With a more open mind， a more pragmatic style， and amore innovative thinking， they can deepen cooperationand jointly create a better future for digital and intelligenttransformation.

The future of China and the EU depends on talent innovationin order to achieve sustainable development，and it is also inseparable from the exchange and cooperationof scientific and technological talents. China and theEU can jointly promote the globalization of scientific andtechnological innovation， and contribute to the brillianceand strength of cooperation and innovation， mutual benefitand win-win results for a better tomorrow.