The China Science and Technology Museum was inaugurated in Beijing on 16 September. The new premises are located on Beijing's Olympic Green and cover an area of 48,000 m2. The museum will function under the umbrella of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology (CAST), which has described the museum as being ‘the most modern of its kind in China.’ Among the first visitors were Mustafa El Tayeb, Director of the Division of Science Policy and Sustainable Development at UNESCO, and Dato Lee Yee Cheong, Chair of the Board of the International Centre for South-South Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation.
Mr El Tayeb met with Mrs Cheg of CAST while in Beijing and they agreed to strengthen cooperation between their respective organizations. One concrete activity retained during their discussion is the organization, in late 2010, of an international conference and exhibition on the History of Science in China and its Interactions. The conference will be co-organized by UNESCO, the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Islamic Call Society and CAST.
During his inspection tour of the new museum on 19 September, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping was reported by China View as saying that innovation in technology and the popularization of science were the two wings that help technology to take off. The museum opened to the public a day later, on National Science Popularization Day.
UNESCO hosts the secretariat for World Science Day for Peace and Development, a global event celebrated annually on 10 November to promote a culture of science worldwide.
Read the:
CAST coverage of the museum opening
China View coverage of Xi Jinping’s visit to the museum
Science Policy
