Dragon-STAR was built upon the work performed by two previous FP7 INCO projects (BILAT-SILK and ACCESSChina4EU), aiming to support the Sino-European collaboration in four levels, namely:
• Enhancing the quality of the Chinese participation in the European Framework Programs.
• Supporting the reciprocity originating from the signed EU-China Scientific Cooperation Agreement and the other bilateral initiatives.
• Supporting the bilateral cooperation in the broader field of innovation and especially technological cooperation between industrial players.
• Supporting the ongoing bilateral Scientific Cooperation dialogue and the other related initiatives.
The planned work was focused on addressing the four main project objectives and several positive outputs produced within the project’s lifetime. However, more important is the fact that DRAGON-STAR managed to establish stable collaborations with all the major stakeholders in Europe and China. There is an established collaboration with other EU funded projects, while joint events have been organized with the EU Delegation in China, DG Research, DG Agriculture, and EURAXESS Links China.
During the 36 months of the Dragon-Star life, the project team worked and succeeded for establishing a cooperation platform between European and Chinese stakeholders towards enhancing the bilateral cooperation in research and innovation.
The project has established a sound cooperation with the permanent EU representation in Beijing and worked together for implementing various activities. Similar cooperation has been established with the EC, Member States, Chinese Organizations and Innovation Agencies.
A flagship activity was the organization of a considerable number of promotional activities for H2020, and the establishment of a help-desk (CECO) and the implementation of a national network of Regional Contact Points in China, for promoting the program. At the same time, a database with funding opportunities for European researchers is constantly updated providing support to the Europeans interest in China.
Moreover, addressing the need to understand the rapid changes in the Chinese research and innovation landscape and draft a suitable cooperation strategy, DRAGON-STAR performed a foresight scenario study, revealing, four plausible scenarios for the future of the Chinese research & innovation landscape.
