QMUL was host to a recent strategic discussion meeting on UK-China Materials Collaboration, as part of the UK-China Partners in Science initiative under the auspices of the British and Chinese Governments. Materials Science has been identified as one of the six priority areas of mutual interest and benefit to both the UK and China, along with: clean and renewable energies; climate change, the environment and sustainable development; space technology; infectious diseases; and biomedicine and the modernisation of traditional medicines. The meeting was co-ordinated by Professor Z. Xiao Guo, from the Materials Department. The Principal, Professor Adrian Smith, welcomed leading British and Chinese materials scientists, industrialists, and officers from the FCO, the DTI, the EPSRC, the Royal Society, the Chinese Embassy, and the Chongqing Science and Technology Commission. Dr. John Wand, Materials Programme Manager of the EPSRC, highlighted current funding structures in the Materials Programme. This was followed by an insightful overview of the Materials industry in the UK by Dr. Robert Quarshie, Chief Analytical Advisor of the DTI and Director of the Materials Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN). Professor Han Yafang, Deputy Director of the Chinese Materials Research Society, presented current priorities of materials research in China. Funding opportunities and industrial developments in China were outlined jointly by Professor Pan Fusheng, Deputy Director-General of the Chongqing Science and Technology Commission, and Professor Han Enhu, Deputy Director of Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Professor George Smith, FRS, Oxford University, chaired the final debate on specific topics for collaboration. A Joint Steering Group will now be formed to strengthen the theme of UK-China Materials Collaboration, with support from the FCO, the EPSRC and the DTI on the UK side, and equivalent organisations in China.