Joint 2025-2027 research agreement covers climate and agriculture, state media says, signalling will to collaborate in spite of differences
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenYuanyue Dangin BeijingPublished: 10:25pm, 22 Jul 2026China and the EU have renewed their joint research agreement, according to Chinese state-linked media, signalling a willingness to collaborate on climate and agriculture despite trade tensions.People’s Financial News, a publication affiliated with Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily, reported on the new two-year agreement on Wednesday.
China’s Ministry of Science and Technology and the European Commission had signed joint research funding agreements to support scientific cooperation through to 2027, the report said. The cooperation focuses on areas such as food, agriculture and biosolutions, as well as climate change and biodiversity.
The report did not say when the agreement was signed.
The 2025-2027 programme was funding universities, research institutions and enterprises in China and the EU to carry out “practical research and development project cooperation to jointly address global challenges such as climate change”, the report said.
China is supporting the mechanism through intergovernmental science and technology cooperation agreements under its National Key Research and Development Programme, while the EU is drawing on Horizon Europe, its flagship research and innovation framework.
