On August 23, 2023, NSFC President Dr.Dou Xiankang met with the German Research Foundation (DFG) delegation led by Dr. Ingrid Ingrid Krüßmann，Deputy Head of Division of International Affairs, DFG and German Director of the Sino-German Center.

President Dou Xiankang first welcomed the visit of the DFG delegation on behalf of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and expressed appreciation for the fact that the two sides have overcome many difficulties in the past three years to jointly promote Sino-German cooperation and implement the work of the Sino-German Center smoothly.

President Dou Xiankang introduced the recent reform measures and development on international cooperation of NSFC and said DFG is one of the most important international partners of NSFC, and the two sides have established a comprehensive and in-depth cooperative relationship, in addition, have jointly established and operated the Sino-German Center with distinctive characteristics for 23 years, which conforms to the needs of scientific and technological development of the two countries and plays an irreplaceable role in the Sino-German research cooperation. In the future, NSFC will, as always, support the cooperation with DFG, strengthen and deepen cooperation in key areas of common concern and joint hands with DFG to deal with global problems, and make joint contributions to coping with major global challenges.

The two sides also exchanged views on the future development of the Sino-German Center and expressed to further strengthen cooperation and jointly plan high-level strategic cooperation of the Sino-German Center under the new situation.

Dr.Yin Wenxuan, Deputy Director General of Bureau of International Cooperation and Chinese Director of the Sino-German Center and other officials attended the meeting.