NIM has signed nearly 30 cooperation agreements with national metrology institutes of more than 20 countries and regions. As the main execution institutions for the metrological technology cooperation agreement between the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labor of Germany and the Department of Trade and Industry of UK, it carries out high-level management mutual visits four or five times a year.
Under the framework of cooperation, NIM takes the lead to organize or participate in the implementation of some fixed bilateral cooperation mechanisms, such as the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Science & Technology Cooperation, the China-UK Metrology Cooperation Committee, China-Germany Metrology Cooperation, the Annual Summit of NIM & KRISS, and Asian Collaboration on Reference Material (ACRM).
In addition, based on our own development needs, we have carried out multi-disciplinary, in-depth and effective scientific and technological cooperation projects with the cooperation institutions, aiming at frontier and key areas. For example, the cooperation in antenna measurement and environmental measurement with NPL; the cooperation in Boltzmann constant measurement and greenhouse gas measurement with NIST; the cooperation in multiple field with PTB and sending visiting scholars: a series of activities will be grandly held in Beijing in 2019 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of China-Germany Metrology Cooperation; and the cooperation in ACRM with NMIJ and KRISS. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we send about 150 short-term visiting groups, involving 350 person-times each year to conduct joint research, technical exchanges, international comparisons, peer review, technical services, etc.; and send about 10 young and middle-aged scientific research backbones to the Advanced NMIs as medium- and long-term visiting scholars; and receive about 150 foreign experts’ visit each year.Now influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, most international cooperation activities are carried on-line.