Lu Yongxiang Meets J. Campbell of InerAcademy Council

On Jun. 27, Lu Yongxiang, InterAcademy Council (IAC) Co-chair and President of CAS met with the visiting IAC Executive Director J. Campbell in Beijing.

Chen Zhu to Take New Post as Minister of Public Health

On the afternoon of Jun. 29, Chen Zhu was appointed as Minister of Public Health by the PRC National People’s Congress Standing Committee. Chen Zhu was previously Vice President of CAS. He is also member of CAS, foreign academician of US National Academy of Sciences, member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, member of the Third World Academy of Sciences, professor of the Shanghai Second Medical University, and tenured professor of the Ruijin Hospital of the Shanghai Second Medical University.

Fu Congbin Elected PSA President

The 21st Pacific Science Congress was closed on Jun. 17, at which Fu Congbin, member of CAS and research fellow of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, CAS, was elected as President of the Pacific Science Association.

IF of Cell Research Reached 3.4

The Institute for Scientific Information published its Journal Citation Reports on June 20, and 75 of some 5000 Chinese S&T Journals were included in SCI. Cell Research has an impact factor (IF) of 3.426 in 2006 and was ranked 62 of the 156 journals of cell biology, increased by 26 from last year’s 88/154 in terms of comprehensive evaluation, which means it has exceeded some of the world famous biological journals and represents a new historical breakthrough in IF for China’s scientific journals. Furthermore, Cell Research’s IF was once again numbered the first in China’s 75 journals included in SCI.

Wu Guoxiong Elected IAMAS President

The 24th International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) was held in Perugia, Italy from July 1 to 14. On July 10, during the election of its sub-committee "the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS), Wu Guoxiong, Member of CAS and research fellow of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, CAS was unanimously elected as President of IAMAS for a 4-year term.

160 Million-year Old Angiosperm Fossil Found in West Liaoning

On Jun. 12, scholars from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaecontoloty, CAS and the Institute of Botany, CAS published a research result in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology, claiming that they had discovered a angiosperm fossil in Huludao City, Liaoning Province, which geologically belongs to the 160 million-year old Haifanggou Formation in the middle Jurassic. The achievement not only puts the origin of angiosperm back by 30 million years, but it also provides a new idea for conceiving the family, evolutionary trend of angiosperm and its relation with other plants.

Inner Mongolia: Sino-German Cooperation Phase 2 Started

The inauguration meeting for Sino-German cooperation phase 2 (2007-2010) was held at the Inner Mongolia Grassland Ecosystem Research Station, CAS. Altogether 67 people participated in the meeting including Research Fellow Han Xingguo, chief scientist from the Chinese side, Prof. Butterbach-Bahl, chief scientist from the Germany side, focal points of the research groups, researchers and graduates from both sides. Ma Keping, Director General of the Institute of Botany, CAS was also present at the meeting. Leaders from Xilin Gol League administrative office of Inner Mongolia and other relative department leaders also attended the meeting and gave speeches on invitation. Phase 1 of the project (MAGIM I) was started in 2004 and ended in 2006.

Nature’s New Online Weekly NatureChina Launched in Beijing

On Jun. 9, Philip Campbell, editor-in-chief of the British Nature magazine, and David Swinbanks, CEO of Nature Publishing Group Asia-Pacific, led editors of Nature series magazines to launch its new online weekly NatureChina and held an academic workshop in Beijing. According to Campbell, NatureChina is committed to highlighting the best scientific achievements in China. The website editors will select the best achievements in their opinion every week to write briefs and reviews for them, so as to help global scientists and scientific policy-makers access the most important research results from China.

Commemoration in Memory of K.C. Wong Held in Beijing

On June 17, CAS held a commemoration at the People’s Congress Hall in Beijing to celebrate the 100th anniversary of K.C. Wong’s birth and 20th anniversary of cooperation between CAS and K.C. Wong Education Foundation. Lu Yongxiang, President of CAS and other about 300 people attended the commemoration. CAS and K.C. Wong Education Foundation initiated the cooperation on education of high-level S&T talents in 1987. In the past 20 years, about 2,500 researchers from CAS have received financial support from K.C. Wong Education Foundation. Many of its projects, such as, CAS K.C. Wong Education Foundation Scholarship, CAS K.C. Wong Fellowship, Lu Jiaxi Academic Exchange Fund, CAS K.C. Wong Post-doctoral Research Award Fund, University of Science and Technology of China K.C. Wong Talent Education Award and Purple Mountain Observatory K.C. Wong Planet Talents Education Fund have contributed greatly to CAS in fostering and attracting talents.