Prof. Lorenz King from Justus-Liebig-Universit？t Gie？en and Prof. Qinghua CAI from Institute of Hydrobiology (CAS) co-chaired the opening ceremony of the 10 Years Sino-German Yangtze Research Cooperation Parallel Workshops held in Wuhan from Oct. 24 to 30, 2009.  

The 10 Years Sino-German Yangtze Research Cooperation Parallel Workshops, jointly sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Sino-German Center for Research Promotion and Stiftung Mercator, and jointly organized by National Climate Center, Institute of Hydrobiology (CAS), China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) and Changjiang Water Resources Protection Institute, was held from Oct. 24 to 30, 2009 in Wuhan.  

The workshop consisted of five sessions, i.e., climate change, floods and droughts; assessment of freshwater ecosystems under global change; climate, energy, and economy modeling, land use change, landslide, soil erosion; environmental impacts of the Yangtze Three Gorges project: water quality aspects. The workshop was also supported by the event series “Deutschland und China – gemeinsam in Bewegung”, which is an initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and under participation of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. 

On Oct. 25, 2009, the opening ceremony of the celebration of the 10th anniversary of Sino-German Yangtze Research Cooperation was held in Hongyi Hotel, Wuhan. IHB’s director Prof. Jindong ZHAO attended the opening ceremony and addressed at the workshop. Dr. Matthias Hack, counsellor for scientific and technological affairs of the German Consulate General in China, along with Prof. Jianguo HAN, director-general of the International Cooperation Bureau of China’s National Natural Science Foundation and director of the Sino-German Center for Research Promotion, Dr. Susanne Fretzdorff from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Dr. Günter Subklew from Forschungszentrum Juelich (FZJ), Prof. Ziniu XIAO, director of National Climate Center and Prof. Wei ZHOU, deputy director of the reservoir department of State Council Three Gorges Project Construction Committee Executive Office, delivered speeches respectively to introduce the progress and perspective of Sino-German Yangtze Research Cooperation from different angles. Prof. Lorenz King from Justus-Liebig-Universit？t Gie？en and Prof. Qinghua CAI from Institute of Hydrobiology (CAS) co-chaired the opening ceremony. 

At the opening ceremony, Dr. Matthias Hack, counsellor for scientific and technological affairs of the German Consulate General in China, along with Prof. Jianguo HAN, director-general of the International Cooperation Bureau of China’s National Natural Science Foundation and director of the Sino-German Center for Research Promotion, unveiled the plaque for the Sino-German cooperative project “Assessment of Freshwater Ecosystems under Global Change” (EcoChange). 

Later, several professors from both China and Germany made keynote speeches covering areas including Sino-German scientific and technological cooperation, environmental protection of the Three Gorges Project, objectives and progress in Sino-German Yangtze research programs, 20 years’ Sino-German cooperative research on climate change, floods and droughts, the background of Sino-German cooperative project “EcoChange”, etc. 

The following workshops were held by each organizer, displaying the huge efforts that both Chinese and German scientists made to tackle global environmental issues. These parallel workshops particularly focused on the dynamic characteristics of environmental issues and transnational and interdisciplinary approaches to cope with environmental problems. After the workshop, each organizer conduct field survey according to different cooperative objectives. Through this workshop, both Chinese and German scientists have broadened their areas of communication and laid foundation for further cooperation between the two countries.  

 
IHB’s director Prof. Jindong ZHAO addressed at the opening ceremony of the 10 Years Sino-German Yangtze Research Cooperation Parallel Workshops. 

 
Prof. Jianguo HAN, director-general of the International Cooperation Bureau of China’s National Natural Science Foundation and director of the Sino-German Center for Research Promotion addressed at the opening ceremony of the 10 Years Sino-German Yangtze Research Cooperation Parallel Workshops. 

 
 The opening ceremony of the celebration of the 10th anniversary of Sino-German Yangtze Research Cooperation was held in Hongyi Hotel, Wuhan, Oct. 25, 2009. 

 
A group photo of the workshop participants