CAIRO — The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) signed on Feb 3 a memorandum of cooperation via video conference with the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), the first of its kind between CAS and UAE research institutes.

CAS Vice-President Zhang Yaping and UAEU Executive Vice-President Ghaleb Albreiki signed the memorandum, under which the two sides agree to step up exchange and cooperation in areas such as renewable energy, water resource, transportation, information technology and artificial intelligence.

Chinese Ambassador to the UAE Ni Jian and UAE Ambassador to China Ali Al Dhaheri also attended the meeting and witnessed the signing.

Noting that the UAE is among the first countries to participate in the clinical trial of the COVID-19 vaccines developed by Chinese firms, the CAS vice-president said he hoped the two sides could cooperate more in this area.

For his part, Albreiki said the cooperation between CAS and UAEU is not only beneficial to the two countries but the international scientific community as well.

Ni, the Chinese ambassador, said "civilizations make progress by learning from each other through more exchange," expecting achievement by the bilateral cooperation on scientific research and education.

CAS, one of the world's leading research organizations, is the linchpin of China's drive to explore and harness high technology and the natural sciences for the benefit of China and the world.

The UAEU is the first comprehensive national university in the UAE.