In 2017 to 2020, Wuhan Institute of Virology, CAS, continuously held the International Workshop on Biosafety Laboratory Management and Techniques for four times, with the purpose of assisting BRI participating countries (regions) in biosafety capability building, enhancing China’s science and technology exchanges and communication with the BRI participating countries (regions) and providing science and technology protection and support services for smooth implementation of the national Belt and Road Initiative. The workshop was incorporated to the fixed international collaboration training workshops implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) and sponsored by CAS project of Science & Technology Training Plan for Belt and Road Initiative and Developing Countries. The workshop is an important form of the service strategy of handling foreign affairs through science and technology cooperation, and an important part of China's fulfillment of the related commitment under Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). It has been listed by MFA in the global biosecurity public products that are provided for China to implement BWC, and has been extensively concerned by many countries.
Supported strongly by MFA and CAS, three workshops were held in 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively and successfully, and totally 79 trainees from 28 countries including Nigeria, Sudan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Poland, Cambodia and Cameroon were enrolled, laying foundation for BRI participating countries to further enhance international cooperation in the future in science and technologies for the prevention and control of infectious diseases, biosafety, etc. The trainees agreed with the training and highly appreciated the aspects such as organizing and planning, teacher resources, curriculum development and practical contents of the international workshop. Additionally, Ambassador Fu Cong, the Head of the Chinese Delegation, spoke highly of the workshop when he attended the 2017 meeting of contracting states of the Biological Weapons Convention that was held in United Nations Office at Geneva. In the 2019 expert meeting of Biological Weapons Convention, the workshop was highly commended by the organs supporting the Convention and the chairman of the meeting in different occasions and called as the model of “South–South cooperation”. The meeting of contracting states of Biological Weapons Convention that was held in December, 2019, Li Song, China's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for Disarmament Affairs, took the workshop as an example to introduce China’s efforts and progress in biosafety training and biosafety science and technology cooperation and exchanges to fulfill the purpose of preserving the good traditions of “South–South cooperation”. In 2020, Wuhan Institute of Virology, based on the workshop, formally launched the International Training Center on Biosafety Laboratory Management and Techniques and obtained the project initiation funding from China Association for Science and Technology (CAST). In December of the same year, supported strongly by CAST, the 2020 International Workshop on Biosafety Laboratory Management and Techniques was held in Wuhan successfully. Nearly 200 trainees from 20 countries, including China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Brazil, Hungary, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Egypt and Mauritius, participated in the workshop in either on-line or off-line manners.
This workshop will continue to focus on providing the training about laboratory biosafety management and experimental technologies for the related research and technical personnel of BRI participating countries to cultivate medium-senior technical and management personnel in prevention and control of infectious diseases for BRI participating countries and provide the world community with biosecurity public products. The management, research and technical personnel from BRI participating countries, including Asian, African and European BRI participating countries, especially developing countries, are summoned through the Alliance of International Science Organizations, Sino-African Joint Research Center, CAS, Pasteur Network and other foreign-related institutions and international cooperation organizations and relying on Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory. Foundation is to be laid for the multilateral and bilateral international exchanges and cooperation of scientific and technical organizations from China and BRI participating countries, in addition to the proactive implementation of the strategies of leaders’ commitments, service-based diplomacy and science and technical cooperation as well as fully embodiment of inter-government science and technology characteristics, foreign technical aids features and soft skills.