Beijing to host life science conference

Beijing will host the 2018 World Life Science Conference later this month, which will focus on areas including medicine and health, agriculture and food safety, the environment and biotechnology, the organizer said at a news conference on Monday.

The three-day event, organized by the China Association for Science and Technology and co-hosted by the China Union of Life Science Societies and the China National Center for Biotechnology Development, will open on Oct 27. 

With the theme "science for a better life", it will feature over 60 plenary speeches, forums and panel discussions with more than 400 speakers, including six Nobel laureates.  

It is the second time Beijing has hosted the event. 

Wang Xiaoning, deputy secretary-general of the China Union of Life Science Societies, said this year's event is an active response to the strategy of promoting a healthy China put forward at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and is meaningful as it coincides with the 40th anniversary of the reform and opening-up policy and the 60th anniversary of CAST's establishment. 

It will combine academic, think tank, industry and science communication and speaks to the development of a comprehensive health industry and other hot topics in social and economic development, he said. 

"In addition to academics, we are paying more attention this time to the conference's social responsibility and the value of industry promotion," he said, "and we have replaced fragmented exhibitions with one big display platform to showcase milestone achievements in life sciences."

Rao Zihe, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and one of the organizing committee's chairmen, said the conference will enhance international cooperation, improve think tank services, deepen science and technology communication and create a good platform to popularize science.