Xi underlines intl scientific, technological innovation

President Xi Jinping underlined the need for all countries to jointly promote peace and development through scientific and technological innovation in a recent reply letter to Pedro Antonio Valdes-Sosa, a Cuban neuroscientist working in China.

Xi commended Valdes-Sosa's commitment to enhancing the special friendly ties between Cuba and China, and actively promoting China's scientific research cooperation with foreign countries. He also extended congratulations to the Cuban scientist and his team for making multiple breakthroughs.

Noting that international scientific and technological cooperation is a major trend, Xi said the fundamental starting point and focus of the Belt and Road Initiative, which he put forward 10 years ago, are to explore new ways of common development among countries, and blaze "a road to happiness" that can benefit all countries and the world at large.

Xi said that China has accelerated scientific and technological exchanges and knowledge sharing with countries involved in the BRI, continuously improved the environment for innovation and gathered innovation resources over the past decade. As a result, the cooperation on scientific and technological innovation has been rapidly advancing with significant achievements, he said.

Speaking of China-Cuba relations, Xi said the traditional friendship, jointly fostered by the older generation of leaders from both countries, has been flourishing and bearing fruitful results.

In addition, the two countries have reached an important consensus on jointly building a China-Cuba community with a shared future since last year, he said.

The president said he sincerely hopes that the two countries will continuously deepen cooperation in science and technology, and all other fields in the new era, so as to bring more benefits to their peoples.

Valdes-Sosa, director of the Joint China-Cuba Laboratory for Frontier Research in Translational Neurotechnology in Chengdu, Sichuan province, recently wrote a letter to Xi to introduce the laboratory's research progress in China. The scientist also reiterated his commitment to promoting China-Cuba friendship and making contributions to promoting greater Belt and Road cooperation globally.