At the invitation of the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR) and the Ministry of Communication and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a delegation led by NSFC Vice President Xie Xincheng visited Luxembourg and Bosnia and Herzegovina from November 2 to 8, 2018.

In Luxembourg, Prof. Xie Xincheng met with Dr. Marc Schiltz, Secretary General and Executive Head of the FNR. The two sides exchanged general information of NSFC and FNR and agreed on establishing partnership to jointly support collaboration between Chinese and Luxembourg researchers in space science and economics. Prof. Xie also met with Prof. Stéphane Pallage, President of the University of Luxembourg and learned about background of the University of Luxembourg and its cooperation with China.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Prof. Xie Xincheng attended the 3^rd China-Central & Eastern European Conference on Innovation Cooperation. On behalf of NSFC, Prof. Xie attended the panel “Possibilities of Innovative Cooperation under the 16+ 1 Initiative umbrella” and had a discussion on ways to promote substantial cooperation between China and Central & Eastern European countries with Branimir Muidža, President of Foreign Investors Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nenad Popović, Minister for Innovations and Technology of Serbia, Smiljana Prelavic, Secretary of Ministry of Science of Montenegro. At the opening ceremony of Unlimited EXPO, Prof. Xie delivered opening remarks on behalf of the Ministry of Science and Technology and NSFC and announced the official opening of the EXPO along with Abdulah Skaka, Mayor of Municipality Center of Sarajevo.

Prof. Xie Xincheng was accompanied by Fan Yingjie, Deputy Director-General of the NSFC Bureau of International Cooperation.