On December 9-10, the “Belt and Road” Frontier Grassland Microbiome and Ecology International Symposium was held in Lanzhou University. Over 1,000 experts, scholars and graduate students countries along the Belt and Road, the United States, the Netherlands, etc. attended the symposium both online and offline.

The symposium was sponsored by Lanzhou University and co-organized by the Center for Grassland Microbiome, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology and State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems of Lanzhou University. The theme of the symposium was grassland microbes and ecology in global changes and carbon neutralization. The main topics include: global changes, carbon cycle, grassland ecology, microbial ecology and theoretical ecology etc.

Nan Zhibiao, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the Center for Grassland Microbiome of Lanzhou University, delivered a welcome speech at the opening ceremony, extending a warm welcome to the experts, teachers and students both online and offline. Academician Nan explained the initial vision of the establishing the Center for Grassland Microbiome. He emphasized the importance of international academic exchanges and reviewed his desire for such exchanges when he was a student. He hoped the masses of young scholars could take the opportunity of the international symposium for extensive exchanges with international renowned experts, so that they would broaden and deepen their research vision. Professor Nan also prompted the “Grassland Research” journal to the attendees. Sponsored by Lanzhou University and the Chinese Grassland Society, it is the first English academic journal in grassland science in China, which will be officially published in March next year. Professor Nan expressed his hope that experts and scholars at home and abroad would support the development of the journal and jointly promote the development of grassland science in China. 

Professor He Jinsheng, director of the State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems (Lanzhou University), Zhang Dawei, secretary of the CPC committee, Professor Li Chunjie, dean, and Professor Liu Zhipeng, deputy dean of the College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Professor Deng Jianming and Professor Feng Huyuan, deputy dean of the School of Life Sciences, relevant academic experts and scholars, teachers and students of the Center for Grassland Microbiome attended the opening ceremony. The ceremony was chaired by Professor Yang Yunfeng, deputy director of grassland Microbiology Research Center. 

The academic report of the symposium was presided over by Professor Li Shouli. Experts and scholars including Professor Hans Cornelissen of Vrije Universitat Amsterdam, Researcher Niu Shuli of Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research,Chinese Academy of Sciences, Researcher Liang Eryuan, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Professor Elizabeth Crone of Tufts University, Professor Katriona Shea of Pennsylvania State University, USA, Professor Jiang Lin of Georgia Institute of Technology, Professor Yang Yunfeng of Tsinghua University, Professor Atsushi Yamauchi of Kyoto University, Japan, Professor Richard Shefferson of the University of Tokyo, Japan, Researcher Huang Wei of Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Researcher Zhang Yunhai of Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Researcher Li Shaopeng of School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Researcher Kyle Tomlinson of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Associate Professor Anna Maria Cserg of Szent Istvan University, Hungarian, Dr. Jing Xin of Peking University etc. delivered excellent academic reports and carried out discussions with the participating teachers and students. At the symposium, the hot topics, frontiers and latest progresses in grassland microbiology and ecology were discussed, and the future development direction of this discipline was discussed, with results far beyond the expected achieved. 

The symposium provides a platform of academic communication and discussion for experts and scholars in the field of grassland microbiology and ecology. It allows more scholars in-depth understanding of the Center for Grassland Microbiome, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology and State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems of Lanzhou University. While broadening the academic horizon of the graduate students and young scholars, it facilitates international exchanges and cooperation and talent training in the field of grassland science.