On June 23, 2017, NSFC President Yang Wei met with Professor Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, President of the European Research Council (ERC). The two sides had a discussion on the NSFC-ERC program for Chinese researchers hosted by ERC grants and future cooperation between NSFC and ERC, including the issue of talent fostering.

Professor Bourguignon was accompanied by Mr. Laurent Bocherea, the Scientific and Technological Counsellor from Delegation of the EU to China. Feng Feng and Fan Yingjie from the Bureau of International cooperation also attended the meeting.