The 10th Annual Meeting of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) will be held on September 17-19 under the joint organization of CAST and Henan Provincial Government. More than 10,000 S&T professionals across the country and of various disciplines will be present at the Meeting, which is to be held in Zhenzhou, the capital city of Henan province. They are people working at the frontiers of R&D and industry, and over 100 of them are academicians of CAS (China Academy of Sciences) or CAE (China Academy of Engineering). The Meeting is to take "Scientific Development and Social Responsibilities" as its theme, and different activities like academic exchange, science popularization, and advising the economic and social development will be conducted during the meeting.

As informed by the Press Conference for the Annual Meeting of CAST, the Meeting this year will take into consideration the 50th Anniversary of CAST, and take innovation as a leading thread. Target group of the Meeting include the general public, S&T professionals, government officials and enterprises. By deliberating the frontier topics of cross-disciplinary subjects, it will strive to promote the crossing and merging of subjects and the development of innovation. It will hold science popularization activities based upon the scientific issues concerned by the public on the whole. Thematic forum will also be organized in accordance with the actual needs of the social and economic development of Henan Province, so as to open up the channels for S&T to serve the society and for S&T experts to provide advices and consultations.

Opening ceremony of the Meeting will be held on September 17 at Zhengzhou International Conference and Exhibiiton Center, following which some dignitaries will be invited to deliver speeches, and they include Wan Gang, Vice Chairman, CPPCC (China People's Political Consultative Conference) and Minister for Science and Technology, Xu Guangchun, Secretary-General, Henan Provincial Committee of CPC (Communist Party of China), Ke Bingsheng, President, China University of Agricultural Science, Feng Jun, President, Beijing Huaqi Information Digital Technology Co., Ltd., Chen Yuntai, Academician, CAS, and Feng Maorun, Director of the Expert Committee, Ministry of Transport as well as an expert on bridges.

In total, 38 sub-meetings will be arranged for the academic exchange activities during the Meeting, and the topics will cover basic research and discipline construction, energy saving, emission reduction and conservation culture, biological and medical sciences and human health, engineering technology and S&T innovation, science communication and science literacy. A total of 39 national academic societies and relevant institutions have participated in the organizational work of the sub-meetings. So far 1326 papers have been taken, and the registered participants have reached 2,500.

The science popularization activities will center on the "Outline of the Action Plan for National Scientific Literacy" and theme of the Meeting. Taking into consideration the specific needs of the general public, the society and the S&T development, and targeting at the young, the farmers, the urban workers and the leaders at different levels, activities like exhibitions, demonstrations, experiments, lectures and consultations will be held in the schools, towns, villages, communities and enterprises in and around Zhengzhou. It is expected that over 100 thousand people will be present.

Ten thematic forums will be held to tackle the hot and hard issues facing the S&T, economic and social development in Henan Province. Relevant experts, government officials and enterprise management people will be invited to participate in them.

In addition, a Woman Scientists' High-level Forum has been added to the Meeting for the first time in order to promote the growth and development of China's woman scientists. From this time on, the Forum will become a regular feature in the overall arrangement of the Annual Meeting of CAST.