Congratulating remarks by Professor Yaping Zhang at the NN-CAS Research Fund 10th Year Anniversary Symposium
(November 1, 2017, Beijing, China)

 
Dear Professor Peter Kurtzhals,
Distinguished colleagues and guests from both China and Denmark, Ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning.

First of all, please accept my warm welcome to all of you, to attend this 10-year Anniversary Symposium for the Novo Nordisk-Chinese Academy of Sciences Research Fund.

I would also like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere greetings to you as the vice president of CAS. This meeting is hold at the newly-launched Sino-Danish Center (or SDC) building, which is donated and designed by our Danish partners. It will be memorable to have our get-together to celebrate the 10th birthday of the Fund in the new Sino-Danish Center.

Being the chair of the fund’s steering committee, I am very proud to stand here giving this welcoming speech. As just recalled by Vice Chairman Chen Zhu in his congratulation video, he and the then Chief Scientific Officer of Novo Nordisk, Dr. Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, were the founding co-chairs of the fund. It was from the day they signed the bilateral agreement that initiated the one-decade collaboration between the two sides. The past ten years have witnessed healthy growth for both Novo Nordisk and CAS in research and development of diabetes and biopharmaceuticals. With the strong and continuous donation from Novo Nordisk, fruitful outcome has been achieved, like what has been mentioned in Prof. Chen’s speech that some 53 research projects, 10 symposiums, 4 PhD and 4 postdoctoral fellowships have been supported through this fund during the past ten years. What makes it more precious is that besides research collaboration, more and more new generation of bio-scientists with bright future have been trained with this fund.

CAS always attaches much emphasis to international cooperation. Denmark is one of the first western countries to establish diplomatic ties with China and the first Northern European country to forge a comprehensive strategic partnership with us. It may not be a coincidence that Denmark takes great pride in the development of its science and education. So we very much appreciate our partnership with our Danish counterparts, and cooperation with Novo Nordisk is definitely one of the greatest examples in Sino-Danish relationship. CAS has taken and will always take Novo Nordisk as its major partners in North Europe.

A famous Chinese poem goes like this, “reach the top of the mountain in the clouds, then you can hold the world in a single glance”. Just as what President Bai said in the SDC building inauguration ceremony, the Sino-Danish collaboration is entering into a new era, yet there is still a long way to go. It is well believed that with our joint endeavors, the fund and our collaboration in bioscience will see another flourishing decade.

Last but not least, I wish the symposium a great success and the fund a bright future in the coming years. Hope you will enjoy your stay here in Huairou. Hope to see you soon next time.

Thank you.