Four joint research projects covering water, non-communicable diseases and food safety and security have been selected for the first round of funding in a New Zealand-China strategic research program, New Zealand Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced Thursday.

The four projects would receive 1.4 million NZ dollars (1.16 million U.S. dollars) over the next three years from New Zealand's Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment and China's Ministry of Science and Technology.

The projects were the first to be selected under the Strategic Research Alliance (SRA) Joint Research Program, which helped facilitate science research collaboration and the commercialization of science between China and New Zealand, said Joyce, who is currently visiting Beijing, in a statement from his office.

"Science and innovation are drivers of economic growth and international competitiveness. China is a key strategic partner for New Zealand in science and innovation and the SRA helps strengthen this partnership on both sides," Joyce said.

The three research areas were of importance to both New Zealand and China and could produce outcomes that would benefit the world, he said.

The projects involving New Zealand and Chinese research organizations include new methods and technologies to enhance land use practices and restore ecological resilience of significant aquatic ecosystems, early warning and sustainable management of rodent pests in food production, tumor-targeted fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) therapeutics for smoking-related lung cancer, and developing new anti-cancer drugs against genetically defined targets.