In the afternoon of September 5, 2013, President. Prof. NING Bin attended the reception hosted by the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) under the invitation of President Prof. John Peebles Arbuthnott of RSE. Mr. YANG Wei, Director of National Natural Science Foundation (NNSF), Mr. TAN Tieniu, Deputy Director-General of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mrs. YANG Xinyu, Deputy Director-General of China Scholarship Council, representatives of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Academy of Social Sciences and RSE as well as other guests attended the reception. 

Before the reception, Prof. John Peebles Arbuthnott delivered a speech on behalf of RSE. He reviewed the history of RSE and briefed its projects. He said RSE has conducted effective cooperation with China in many academic fields and the first MoU was signed as early as in 2002. He hoped that cooperation and exchange between RSE and academic institutes in China can be further strengthened.

Academician YANG Wei gave a speech on behalf of NNSF Committee. He said that in recent years, NNSF and RSE have co-sponsored many scientists to conduct academic researches and exchanges, achieving fruitful academic results.

Prof. NING Bin extended his gratitude to Prof. John Peebles Arbuthnott for the invitation. He hoped that more academic cooperation could be carried out between Beijing Jiaotong University and relevant universities in Scotland.