Academician Valentin I. Sergienko (Сергиенко В.И.), Chairman of the Far Eastern Branch of theRussian Academy of Sciences and his delegation visited the Chinese Academy of Engineering on April 7, 2011. CAE Member Du Xiangwan, former CAE Vice President received them on behalf of the Academy.

CAE Member Du Xiangwan, first of all, expressed sincere welcome to guests coming from the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Afterwards, Du suggested that both sides should further strengthen exchanges and cooperation in fields like the early warning mechanism as well as safety precaution and protection measures for natural disasters like earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis, ocean exploration and exploitation of marine resources; automatic control; the development and utilization of mineral resources, laser physics, fiber optics and information science. Finally, Du also said that since this year marked the tenth anniversary for the signing of the China-Russia Good-Neighborly Friendship Cooperation Agreement, also CAE and the Communist Youth League planned to hold a “China-Russia Young Scientists Forum” in this autumn, it is suggested that young scientists and engineers with the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences should actively participate in the forum, so as to enhance mutual understanding and ever-lasting friendship between peoples in both countries.

Academician Sergienko extended his gratefulness for all the arrangement CAE made with great courtesy related to reception, who then gave a briefing of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He said that it is one of the three regional branches of the Academy, composed of 34 research institutes, mainly engaged in basic scientific studies in areas like geophysics, geology, oceanography, chemistry and so on, with its research direction and R&D projects of quite distinct regional characteristics. As a matter of fact, academician Sergienko said, the Far Eastern Branch and the three provinces located in Northeast China have established long-lasting and friendly cooperation relationship. A case in point is the collaborative efforts of the Pacific Oceanographic Institute of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) in the field of underwater acoustics over the past twenty years, with a series of sea trials and scientific investigation carried out, and academic workshops and symposiums held, which have all proved to be very fruitful. Another example is the cooperation between the Institute of Marine Technology of the Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences and the Shenyang Institute of Automation in their joint efforts to develop 6,000 meter autonomous underwater robots, starting 1991. These efforts have already yielded scientific research findings.

Academician Sergienko then expressed his hope to strengthen cooperation and exchanges with CAE, who also showed great interest in the areas for future collaboration proposed by CAE Member Du Xiangwan. He suggested that, in the early stage, the two sides could focus on two key areas for cooperation, namely, marine technology and engineering, as well as clean water treatment technology and equipments. As for the “China-Russia Young Scientists Forum” proposal, Academician Sergienko said he would support it actively by sending delegates for participation. He proceeded to make specific suggestions regarding the way the forum is going to be organized. That is, he hoped that the forum should organize specialized discussions centered on various topics like “handling cross-border nuclear contamination”, the early warning mechanism for natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, and information science, and so on.

Чередниченко А.И., Director-General of the Department of Innovative Development and International Relations of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Чумаков В.В., Assistant Chairman of the Far Eastern Branch, together with officials with the Department of International Cooperation of CAE were also present at the meeting. (By Zhu Yu, April 2011; translated by Liu Chang)