On December 9, 2020, in a solemn atmosphere in the presence of representatives of the Ningbo Provincial Government (People's Republic of China) and the leadership of the Institute of Hydrobiology of the NAS of Ukraine, the agreement was signed to establish an innovation center of the International Academic Cooperation between Ningbo City Environmental Observation and Research Station and the Institute of Hydrobiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

The agreement was signed by: Director of the Institute of Hydrobiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Corresponding Member Afanasyev Serhiy Oleksandrovych, and Scientific Director of the Institute of Urban Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Head of the Ningbo City Environmental Observation and Research Station Zhu Yongguan.