New Chapter for the Friendship between Chongqing and Düsseldorf
And for the Technological Cooperation between China and Germany

Still vivid in the memories of Chongqing citizens, in July 2004, Chongqing officially established friendship ties with Düsseldorf, the capital city of North-Rhine Westphalia State of Germany . Mayors of the two cities, Mr. Wang Hongju and Mr. Joachim Erwin, who are close friends, have been actively seeking for economic and cultural cooperation and exchange between the two cities.

The reporter was recently informed by the organizing committee of China Chongqing Hi-Tech Fair that the two cities will jointly hold the Chinese-German High-Tech Forum - Microsystems for Health, which marks another substantial progress for the friendship between the sister cities. Besides the two municipal governments, the sponsoring parties also include German Federal Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, andMinistry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China; and a number of major institutes from both countries are also involved in holding the Forum. On the Chinese side, Foreign Affairs Office of Chongqing Municipal Government, Chongqing Association for Science and Technology, Chongqing Food and Drug Administration, Chongqing Municipal Health Bureau, Chongqing University, Chongqing Southwest Hospital, and Chongqing Jinshan Science & Technology Inc. have rendered their full support; on the Germany side, Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Micro-integration (IZM), Germany and VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH (VDI/VDE-IT) are also fully committed to the organization of the Forum; while Messe Düsseldorf China Ltd. (MDC), who has set up its representative office in Chongqing in 2001, and is known as a window for Düsseldorf in southwest China, is the natural undertaker of the forum. According to Ms. Wu Xue, chief of the Forum Department of China Chongqing Hi-Tech Fair, the Forum is of high international and professional calibres in every conceivable aspect, from sponsoring, co-organizing and undertaking teams of the forum to keynote speakers, thus ensuring the top-level of the forum.

According to Mr. Pan Fusheng, deputy director of Chongqing Science and Technology Commission, the theme of the Forum “Microsystems for Health " is based on the distinctive advantage and industrial strength of Chongqing in the Microsystems field, and the three fairly successful Sino-Germany high-tech exchange projects, including the microspectrometer project by Chongqing University and Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Micro-integration (IZM) , etc. , the biosensor chip project by Chongqing Southwest Hospital and directif GmbH etc., and the Microsystems cooler project by Chongqing Jinshan Science & Technology Corp. and Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Micro-integration (IZM) , etc. Th is top forum is held in an effort to promote the Sino-German research co-operations in micro-technology in medical application and relevant business opportunities. Audience invited are strictly limited to user industry, trade associations, government administrative departments and trade media, including relevant R&D institutes, universities and colleges, medical instrument manufacturer and investors, as well as hospitals . The majority of the audience come from Chongqing with considerable participation from all over the nation. Mr. Zhang Haiqing, deputy director of Foreign Affairs Office of Chongqing Municipal Government expressed his expectation for the Forum: "We wish those involved in the medical field in Chongqing may gain access to world leading medical technology and methods, look into potential business opportunities, and bring more blessings for the 30 million population of Chongqing Municipality, which displays a huge demand for medical and healthcare products and services."

According to Mr. Tony Fung, CEO of Messe Düsseldorf China Ltd. (MDC), trade audience can register either online at the official website www.mstforum.com.cn , or by fax or telephone. Currently the registration has been very active , with more than 10% of the registered audience from outside Chongqing , or even from abroad. Now the organizers have decided to increase audience size from original 100 to 200, so as to meet the keen needs of the professionals.

The Chinese-German High-Tech Forum Microsystems for Health will be held on April 21 at Chongqing International Convention & Exhibition Center . The bilingual forum with simultaneous interpretation will be divided into 3 sessions : 1 st session , introduction on "Healthcare and High-tech" and "German Microsystems Life Science Research Network"; 2 nd session , detailed introduction of three Sino-Germany cooperation projects; 3 rd session, introduction on application of Microsystems product s and technolog ies in the health industry. For each session of the Forum, keynote speakers, who are senior researchers, project leaders, and entrepreneurs in the related industry from both China and Germany , will be invited to deliver speeches, and hold discussions and interactions by combining the latest cases and projects in the theoretical research and actual application of microsystem technologies. German keynote speakers come from German Federal Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Micro-integration (IZM), University of Regensburg, VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH, Düsseldorf Economic Development Office, Harald Berninger , QIAGEN GmbH and d irectif GmbH. Group discussions will be arranged in tight agenda of the Forum. On the second day of the Forum there will be one-to-one bilateral cooperation talks. Let's look forward to the Sino-Germany high-tech summit forum in the medical and health field!