The 18th International Plant Protection Congress (IPPC) was held at Free University Berlin, Germany, on 24-27 August 2015. The Congress Chair, Prof. Holger Deising (the German Scientific Society for Plant Protection and Plant Health) presented his welcome address. Prof. Geoff Norton, the President of International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences (IAPPS), in welcoming participants to the Congress, emphasized the unique role that IAPPS plays by covering all the major plant protection disciplines and being guided by a Governing Board representing 15 major world regions and indicated that its role in convening the IPPC every 4 years is only made possible by collaboration with local plant protection organizations. Dr. ZHOU Xueping, the Director General of IPP, and Drs. WANG Guirong, LIU Wende, LI Shidong, ZHAO Tingchang, and FAN Jieru from IPP were present at this Congress.

Dr. Zhou attended the Governing Board meeting and, as the coordinator of Central Asia, reported the work of plant protection carried out in China. He presented that China Society of Plant Protection (CSPP) established discipline groups in integrated pest management of agricultural crops in China based on Key Laboratory for Integrated Crop Pests Management, China Ministry of Agriculture. SCPP organized Chinese scientists working in the disciplines of plant protection and composed and published Crop Diseases and Insect Pests in China (3rd Ed.), a work of three volumes. Besides, SCPP organizes academic conferences annually and international and domestic conferences in China.

Dr. Zhou spoke at a Congress workshop Food Security-Role of Plant Protection. The titled of speech was China-Achieving Food Security on behalf of CSPP on 25 August. He introduced the current situation of the occurrence of plant diseases and insect pests, the control achievement obtained, and challenges faced in China and the countermeasures.

Around 1200 participants from 95 countries were present at the 18th IPPC. The participants gave 360 talks and 800 posters. More than 80 Chinese scientists attended this Congress.

Part of Chinese participants

Dr. Zhou was talking at 18th IPPC