The 5th Sino-Australia Science and Technology Symposium convened in Canberra, capital of Australia on November 23-26, 2008. With remote sensing and sustainable development as the theme, the Symposium was divided into four workshops, namely, Remote Sensing for Energy and Mineral Exploration Workshop, Remote Sensing for Land Management and Agriculture Workshop, Remote Sensing for Water Resources Workshop, and Remote Sensing for Natural Disasters and Environmental Change. The symposium aimed to promote further cooperation among scientists from Australia and China.

The symposium was also intended to explore the possibility of cooperation on the program of “Remote Sensing for Global Environmental Change', shorted as ABCC program, initiated by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Prof. Guo Huadong, Director of the Center for Earth observation and Digital Earth (CEODE), CAS deliver a presentation on the ABCC Program, which mainly focuses on using space technologies to address global change by strengthening cooperation with relevant research organizations in Australia, Brazil, Canada and China.

The learned academies of China and Australia have been instrumental over many years in facilitating collaboration between China and Australia. This symposium is the fifth in a series organized by the academies.

Group photo of the Chinese Representatives