More than great food was on the menu when a leading Minister from the People's Republic of China (PRC) met staff from The University of Australia and Madame Wang Yiner, the Republic's Consul General in Perth.

Perth was the first stop of an Australian tour for PRC Vice Minister of Science and Technology, Madame Chen Xiaoya, and among the first people she met was Winthrop Professor Dongke Zhang FTSE, Director of UWA's Centre for Energy.

Over a meal at a Perth riverside Chinese restaurant, the Vice Minister, the Consul General, the Professor and other guests discussed a wide range of bilateral issues related to science and technology collaboration.

Topics included sustainable energy, environmental and climate change, science education and training, energy and resources trade between Australia and China, and the important roles that Chinese Australian academic and science leaders are playing in the relationship between the two countries.

The delegates heard about significant collaborations between UWA's Centre for Energy and many Chinese research institutions and industry partners.

In the recently established China-Australia Joint Centre and Alliance for Energy and Mining Initiative, UWA leads an Australian consortium of organisations and interstate universities partnering leading Chinese companies and universities to develop new international collaborative approaches to energy and mining research.

In addition to this initiative, Professor Zhang leads several other nationally significant energy-related projects in China, collaborating with major associates.

Photo:  Madame Chen Xiaoya (left), Winthrop Professor Dongke Zhang and Madame Wang Yiner.

Media references

Ms Yii Leng Chan (Technical Officer, UWA Centre for Energy)  (+61 8)  6488 7602
Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 00 700 783