September 4–5, 2025 – The 13th Meeting of the China-Cuba Joint Working Group on Biotechnology Cooperation was successfully held in Wuhan, China. The meeting was jointly organized by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and Cuba’s BioCubaFarma, and hosted by the NDRC International Cooperation Center. Xiang Lixin, Vice Chairman of China’s NDRC, and Eduardo Martínez Díaz, Vice Prime Minister of Cuba, attended the opening ceremony and delivered remarks. Bai Jingyu, Director-General of the NDRC Department of High-Tech Industry, and Mayda Mauri, President of BioCubaFarma, reported on the progress and achievements made since the 12th meeting on behalf of the Chinese and Cuban working groups, respectively. Senior officials from multiple Chinese ministries and commissions, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the National Health Commission, as well as local government representatives, attended the meeting, jointly advancing China-Cuba biotechnology cooperation to new heights. The meeting was chaired by Wu Hongliang, Director of the NDRC International Cooperation Center.
Academician Song Weihong, Director of Oujiang Lab, Deputy Director Wang Yi, and heads of relevant departments were invited to attend the meeting. They exchanged greetings with Chinese leaders, including NDRC Vice Chairman Xiang Lixin, and Cuban leaders, including Vice Prime Minister Martínez, BioCubaFarma President Mauri, and Vice President Dueñas.
From left to right: Eduardo Martínez Díaz, Vice Prime Minister of Cuba (center); Song Weihong, Director of Oujiang Lab (right); Wang Yi, Deputy Director of Oujiang Lab (left)
During the meeting, five parallel subgroup sessions of the 13th meeting were held. Director Song Weihong and Deputy Director Wang Yi represented Oujiang Lab in the Science and Technology Subgroup, led by the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Health Subgroup, led by the National Health Commission, respectively. They delivered work reports and engaged in extensive and in-depth discussions with Cuban delegates and relevant Chinese enterprises on future scientific research collaboration and translation in the field of life and health, with the outcomes documented in the meeting minutes.
Parallel session of the Science and Technology Subgroup
Parallel session of the Health Subgrou
At the closing ceremony, witnessed by Cuban Vice Prime Minister Eduardo Martínez Díaz, Oujiang Lab, the Cuban Neuroscience Center, and the Cuban Center of Molecular Immunology signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Co-establishment of the China-Cuba Joint Translational Research Center for Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases. This collaboration was also incorporated into the minutes of the 13th meeting.
From left to right: Mitchell Valdés-Sosa, Director of the Cuban Neuroscience Center and Academician of the Cuban Academy of Sciences (left); Antonio Vallín García, Director of the Cuban Center of Molecular Immunology (right); Song Weihong, Director of Oujiang Lab (center)
Signing of the meeting minutes between China and Cuba
This signing reflects the high-level attention and support from both Chinese and Cuban governments for relevant collaborative projects. The two countries have already achieved fruitful results in scientific and technological cooperation under bilateral and regional multilateral mechanisms. Oujiang Lab will continue to adhere to a development path characterized by openness, integration, and innovation leadership, deepen international scientific exchanges and cooperation, and strive to achieve more original breakthroughs in key areas such as life health and biomedicine, thereby contributing to the economic and social development and improvement of people’s livelihoods in both countries, and building a global community of healt
