The 12th CAST Annual Meeting opened at Fuzhou, capital city of Fujian Province on t November 1, 2010.

Mr. Wang Zhaoguo, Political Bureau Member of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Chairman of National People's Congress Standing Committee, attended and addressed the opening ceremony. Prof. Han Qide, Vice Chairman of National People's Congress Standing Committee and CAST president, gave the opening speech. Mr. Sun Chunlan, Chairman of Fujian Provincial People's Congress, Mr. Huang Xiaojin, Governor of Fujian Province, and other leaders from relevant departments of CPC Central Committee and the State Council, together with more than 5000 scientific and technological workers and general public around the country also attended the opening ceremony. Prof. Thomas A. Steitz, from Yale University, and 2009 Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry, Prof. Erwin Neher, from University of Göttingen, Germany and 1991 Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, and representatives from the AAAS, the IET, Russian Federation of Scientific and Engineering Organizations, and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) were invited to be present at the opening ceremony.

Mr. Wang Zhaoguo, Political Bureau Member of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Chairman of National People's Congress makes speech at the opening ceremony

CAST President Han Qide makes opening speech

S&T Minister Wan Gang makes keynote lecture

Mm Deng Nan, Vice President and Chief Executive Secretary of CAST, hosts the ceremony

At the opening ceremony, Mr. Wang Zhaoguo, Political Bureau Member of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Chairman of National People's Congress Standing Committee called on the scientific and technological workers throughout the country to thoroughly study and carry out the spirit of the 5th Plenary Session of the 17th Central Committee of CPC, to let leading and basic role of scientific and technological innovation into full play, and to provide strong scientific and technological support to the economic development mode shift and realization of the goals and tasks set in "12th Five Year Plan".

Mr. Wang Zhaoguo also urged the Party committees and governments at all levels to create suitable conditions by which the scientific and technological workers could favorably develop and fully play their role. He also hoped that Associations for Science and Technology at all levels could further strengthen their role as an important force for promoting the development of science and technology, promote academic exchanges, science popularization, talent recommendation, and policy advisory, and build a "home to all scientific and technological workers" by provide high quality and efficient service to scientific and technological workers.

Prof. Han Qide, Vice Chairman of National People's Congress and CAST president, stressed in his speech that scientific and technological workers shall not only contribute their own wisdom by conducting innovative research and development, but also enlighten the wisdom for general public by improving the pubic understanding of science.

Several awards were also presented at the opening ceremony, including Geology Award, Applied Science Award, and Technological Innovation Award by Zhou Guangzhao Fund, Qiushi Excellent Scientist Award by Qiushi Fund, and CAST Qiushi Excellent Young Scientist Engineering Award and Commercialization Award.