In 2012, International Research and Training Center for Science &Technology Strategy (CISTRAT) was formally established in Beijing as a Category II Centre under the auspices of UNESCO. It is the first UNESCO Category II Centre to focus on S&T strategy and policy. The Centre is committed to S&T and innovation policies as well as strategic international cooperation, research and training, establishing a sound S&T policy research and cooperation network, promoting cooperation between governments and academia industry. CISTRAT served as an international cooperation network in knowledge diffusion by inviting experts to introduce their experience on S&T development as well as frontier theories and policies in developed countries. Furthermore, a series of high-end activities were held by CISTRAT, including the intergovernmental signing ceremony held in Shanghai this May with the attendance of State Councilor, Madam Liu Yandong, the first session of the Council held in Beijing in September, the General Assembly of center establishment, the first international forums and the first international training workshop.

Firstly, an international training workshop was held, which provided technical support for S&T development strategies and policy research of developing countries.

CISTRAT organized international training programs for developing countries on a yearly basis. In 2012, CISTRAT held its first international training workshop named “Methodology Training on Strategic Research and Technological Development Programs in Developing Countries”, recruiting 16 international trainees from 11 developing countries. The trainees were mainly government officials and S&T policy researchers from universities and research institutes. Over half of them hold doctoral degrees.

The teachers consisted mainly of CASTED researchers, who introduced China's Science Technology Innovation (STI) policy to the trainees. As a part of the training program, a field study to Shanghai allowed trainees to witness the results and achievements of China's S&T development, such as visits to Shanghai Qingmei Green Food Co., Ltd., Sunqiao modern agricultural park, Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, Shanghai North high-tech service Industry Park, Shanghai light source, Zhangjiang incubator and other high-tech enterprises and parks. CISTRAT also organized interactive activities for the trainees. According to their feedback, the workshop was considered well prepared and highly relevant for developing countries in terms of China's experience in STI strategies and policies.

Secondly, international cooperation research projects strengthened dialogue and cooperation between CISTRAT and other institutes.

CISTRAT participated in a number of international meetings, including "Global Ethics of Science and Technology in Cooperate with the EU", "Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction Research Work with the Norwegian FAFO Institute", "Work to Understand the Investigation and China's Sustainable Development in the Context of Globalization Team up with Norway", all of which helped CISTRAT to promote dialogue and cooperation among different countries. CISTRAT has been working hard to bridge developed and developing countries in order to promote knowledge sharing and common progress.

In 2012, expert groups from China and Germany carried out a project named “Comparative Study of China-Germany Innovation System”, in which CISTRAT was responsible for coordination of experts from both sides. The Centre received a total of three visits from the German expert group and visited Germany to participate in an expert group discussion. In November 2012, the "2nd China-Germany Innovation Forum" was hosted by CISTRAT in Berlin, Germany. A summary of the comparative research topics was also published in this forum. In 2012, Rand Corporation and CISTRAT jointly applied for the Ford Foundation project " A Comparative Study of Social Participation Patterns in Disaster Governance " which was approved. The two organizations invited Dr. Howard J. Shatz (Rand's senior economist, specializing in international Economic research, including foreign direct investment, international trade, international economic development, economy and national security, etc.), formerly a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as well as one of the founders of the "Robust Decision Making" approach, which won the Nobel Peace Prize a few years ago, to address problems on climate change and long-term water planning.

Thirdly, international events were held to strengthen cooperation and dialogue among different countries with regard to STI policy.

On September 25, CISTRAT held its first international seminar named "International Forum on S&T Policy Innovation", on which members of the Governing Board made impressive presentations. The seminar was attended by more than 80 participants, including trainees of the first international training course, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of S&T, local S&T authorities and research institutions. Participants discussed issues such as technological innovation policy and global challenges, S&T policy research and human resource management, support system of S&T innovation policy, regional technological innovation policy and network construction and other issues.

In addition, CISTRAT hosted and attended various international conferences, such as the "2012 River Delta Innovation Forum", “International Symposium on Major Social Science and Technology Challenges Facing China and Europe", and "China, Japan and South Korea Science and Technology Policy Seminar".

Fourthly, CISTRAT organized joint research projects to enhance the quality of strategy and policy research.

In this November, CISTRAT participated in the "Second Forum on China-Germany Innovation Policy Platform", which was attended by the State Intellectual Property Office, Natural Science Foundation, Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University of Technology, etc. The theme of this forum was the comparison of the innovation systems of China and Germany. There were four sub-topics under the conference theme, namely Science and Industry, International Knowledge Flow, China-Germany Enterprise R & D power, and Selection and Evaluation of the Innovative Public Finance Funding.  

Fifthly, CISTRAT maintained stable relations with UNESCO headquarters and the Chinese National Commission of UNESCO, which strengthened the exchange of experience with similar research institutions.

In November 2012, CISTRAT participated in the 27th plenary meeting of Chinese National Commission for UNESCO. Moreover, with the joint efforts of Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Science and Technology, a member of CISTRAT went to the UNESCO headquarters in Paris for one-year secondment.