Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute signed a 20-million-yuan ($3 million) cooperation agreement with the UK's University of Birmingham to work on technological innovation on?November 1 in Nanjing.

University of Birmingham is one of the world's top 100 universities, and innovation has been at the center of the university's mission since it was founded in 1825. More than 5,000 foreign researchers, teachers and students travel to the UK to research at Birmingham each year.

“It was pleasant to build a partnership with Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute, and we feel honored to push technological innovation in China and the Central England area,” said Professor David Eastwood, vice-chancellor of the University of Birmingham, at the signing ceremony.

Professor Hu Yidong, vice director of Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute, maintained the significance of this cooperation and extended his sincere hope to join hands with more first-rate universities in a wider range of research fields, such as new materials, biotechnology, environmental protection, information technology and software.

This is not the first time the two sides have shown their cooperation intentions. In September this year, a delegation of scholars from Jiangsu made a short visit and met some talented professors in Birmingham, including Richard Palmer, founder of UK’s first center for nanoscience, the Nanoscale Physics Research Laboratory.