U.S. National Science Foundation Opens Beijing Office

The U.S. National Science Foundation's (NSF) Beijing Office officially opened on May 24 in the Silver Tower high rise, which also houses the U.S. Embassy. The objective of the new office is to foster international collaborations between Chinese and American scientists. Representatives from the NSF, the U.S. State Department, the Chinese National Natural Sciences Foundation, and Chinese Academy of Sciences attended the opening. As of 2001, China ranked third behind the U.S. and Japan in research and development expenditures, according to the NSF Science and Engineering Indicators 2006 report that was published this past February. The new Beijing Office is the third foreign NSF office following Paris and Tokyo.