The 4th Steering Committee Meeting of FIO-POI Joint Research Centre Successfully Held

On September 19, the 4th Steering Committee Meeting of FIO-POI China-Russia Joint Research Centre of Ocean and Climate (hereinafter referred to as “the Joint Centre”) was successfully held in Yanji, China. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of China-Russia diplomatic relations and the meeting was highly appreciated by China and Russia. CHEN Danhong, Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Natural Resources of China, LI Tiegang, Director-General of the First Institute of Oceanography (FIO) of the Ministry of Natural Resources of China and Denis Makarov, Deputy Director of the V.I. Il'ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute (POI) of the Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences attended the meeting and delivered remarks.

Director-General CHEN Danhong said that China and Russia are both major maritime countries and share a broad consensus in deepening scientific understanding of the oceans and the process of climate change, caring for the health of the marine ecosystem, promoting the sustainable use of marine resources, and safeguarding the fairness and justice of the global ocean governance. Since the establishment of the Joint Centre, Chinese and Russian researchers have been working closely together, making solid progress and conducting four joint scientific expeditions with fruitful results. In the future, it is hoped that efforts will continue to be made to upgrade the Joint Centre and broaden its areas of cooperation, so as to make it an important platform for China and Russia to carry out cooperation in the marine and polar fields and participate in global ocean governance.

Director-General LI Tiegang pointed out that the Joint Centre is the first cooperation platform in marine scientific research established by China and Russia. Since its operation, the two sides have carried out pragmatic and fruitful cooperation in joint marine scientific expeditions, scientific research, personnel exchange, etc. It is recommended that the two sides continue to deepen communication and exchanges. Deputy Director Denis Makarov said that the Joint Centre has achieved fruitful  results since its establishment, which has greatly enriched our understanding of the long-term changes in the global ocean, and it embodies the pragmatic cooperation between China and Russia in ocean and climate. POI attaches great importance to this cooperation platform and will continue to support its development.

The Joint Centre was established in Vladivostok in 2017. With the efforts of Chinese and Russian researchers, it has achieved fruitful results in cooperative research, personnel exchange, joint cruises and publicity, and the related activities have been included in the China-Russia Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation 2020-2021. The two sides successfully organized three meetings of the Steering Committee in Vladivostok, Qingdao and Vladivostok in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively. The 4th Steering Committee Meeting was the first held after the COVID-19 pandemic, which reviewed the annual work report for 2020-2024 of the Joint Centre and discussed the work plan for the next year.

During the meeting, Dr. Vasilenko Yuriy, Director of the Laboratory of Paleoоceanology and Paleoclimatology of POI, and Researcher ZOU Jianjun of FIO were appointed as the new Co-Directors of the Joint Centre.

Group photo

CHEN Danhong, Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation of MNR delivers remarks  

Director General LI Tiegang and Deputy Director Denis Makarov sign meeting minutes