Peking University, Beijing，Oct.21^st, 2009: As an important part of activities celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the Geographical Society of China, the National Natural and Geographical Conference was held from Oct.17^th to Oct.19^th at the Yingjie Exchange Center in Peking University. The conference was jointly held by the Geographical Society of China, Peking University’s College of Urban and Environmental Sciences and other related institutions.

Professor Zhang Guoyou, Vice President of PKU, gave a speech in the opening ceremony of the conference. He said that the study of geography in PKU constantly strives for advanced science and development to meet the country’s needs in recent decades. With efforts from several generations, each subject in this field has had drastic development and new subjects, such as environmental science, ecology and urban planning, have been established. In addition, PKU has also built an elite team in geography, such as renowned Professor Hou Renzhi. Besides, a large number of young scholars active in different areas of geography have given impetus to creating new theories in geography and have made great contribution to the national sustainable development policy. Moreover, the advantage of cross-disciplinary atmosphere at Peking University will no doubt drive development of geography in this area to a higher level.

After the opening ceremony, twelve famous academicians presented reports, including Duo Zheng, Ying Wang, Dahe Qin, Jingyun Fang and so on. The topics of these reports related to a broad area of geography, such as global climate changes, digital oceanography and national development, environmental pollution and human’s health, etc.

Focusing on some hot issues, both domestic and foreign experts and some graduate students warmly communicated these issues in the one-day chapter of the conference. Moreover, some excellent graduates’ reports are also selected in the meeting.

Translated by: An Jiang

Edited by: Cai Ying

Source: PKU News (Chinese)