On the afternoon of 6 September 2022, the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Sino-Greek Diplomatic Relations: 13^th Meeting of the Joint Commission of Sino-Greek Science and Technology Collaboration was held at China’s Ministry of Science and Technology and online in response to pandemic control and prevention. Zhang Guangjun, Vice Minister of Science and Technology, and Dr Christos Dimas, Deputy Minister for Development and Investment in charge of Research and Technology, each delivered an opening speech via video. The meeting was also attended by Xiao Junzheng, the Chinese Ambassador to Greece; Dai Gang and Xu Jie, director-general and deputy director-general of the Department of International Cooperation of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology; Gao Xiang, director-general of the China Science and Technology Exchange Centre; Dr Athanasios Kyriazis, general secretary for research and innovation at General Secretariat for Research and Innovation; Zhao Guoying, deputy curator of the Palace Museum and director of the China-Greece Belt-and-Road Joint Laboratory on Cultural Heritage Conservation Technology (Joint Laboratory); Qu Liang, research librarian at the Joint Laboratory; and representatives from Sun Yat-sen University, Jiangnan University and the Greek institutes concerned.

After reviewing the bilateral government collaboration, Deputy Curator Zhao reported on the progress of the Joint Laboratory. Since the approval of its establishment in 2019, the laboratory has achieved research results in terms of technology, equipment and application as Greece and China focused on the laser cleaning of artefacts. Both sides have also learnt from each other through the holding of seminars and lectures.

The meeting also recognised the progress that the Palace Museum has achieved in developing the laboratory and the critical role it has played in promoting international collaboration and academic exchanges in artefact preservation. Both China’s Ministry of Science and Technology and Greece’s Ministry of Development and Investment regarded science and technology collaboration in cultural-heritage preservation as a major direction of collaboration between the two countries. Cultural-heritage preservation will be a major area of development supported by such collaboration.