The European Union (EU) and China on Wednesday launched the China-EU Science and Technology Year, which will feature an array of activities aimed at promoting cooperation in these key fields.

"China is quickly becoming a major global player in science and technology. We face many of the same challenges for the future, and research can play a part in facing them," said the EU Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik in a statement.

"I hope that the China-EU Science and Technology Year will increase awareness in China and the EU about the benefits of cooperation. This will usher in a new phase of our science and research relationship," he said.

Chinese Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Wu Zhongze said the China-EU Science and Technology Year was a major event in China-EU sci-tech cooperation and in the two sides' overall bilateral relations.

The activities in the coming 12 months will help promote the strategic partnership between China and the EU, he added.

The activities will include conferences, seminars, forums and exhibitions. Areas of cooperation will include health, energy, environment, food and bio-technology.