Serbia, China step up academic cooperation on new natural medicines

BELGRADE, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Serbian and Chinese institutions have agreed to establish a joint laboratory in Serbia to test natural products for new medicines and to enable Serbians to study this field in China, the government of Serbia informed on Tuesday.

According to the government's press release, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed on Monday by Branko Ruzic, Serbia's first deputy prime minister, and a representative of the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM) of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Ruzic, who is also Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development, said that the "signing of this memorandum creates excellent conditions for cooperation in the field of science and education between our two countries and represents a continuation of successful cooperation" between the Institute for Biological Research "Sinisa Stankovic" of University of Belgrade and SIMM.

According to Ruzic, the memorandum relates to the testing of natural medicines and food safety, exchange of researchers and cooperation in the field of scientific research and new medicines.

He emphasized that with this lab, Serbia joins some 50 countries that already have such facilities, which represents an incentive for further scientific cooperation and is "extremely important for both Serbia and the Western Balkans region, and it is a big step in strengthening the cooperation between Serbia and China."

The memorandum also encourages enrollment programs for Serbian students at SIMM, and envisages the organization of summer camps for students from China and Serbia, training and exchange programs for students and researchers, as well as other forms of cooperation in the field of higher education and science, the release added.