A commendation conference for the 20th Anniversary of China’s Sustainable Development Experiment Zones, which was organized by MOST, opened in the Great Hall of the People on November 9, 2006.

DENG Nan, Council President of Chinese Society of Sustainable Development (CSSD), LIU Yanhua, Vice Minister for Science and Technology and GUO Shenglian, Vice Governor of Hubei Province attended the opening ceremony.

In line with the spirits of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee, the conference reviewed 20 years of experience in the experimental zones, commended groups and individuals for their prominent accomplishment and explored mechanism to further develop the experimental zones under new circumstances.

The commendation conference was the first of its kind in the 20-year history of the experimental zones. The meeting also hosted discussions on the development plan of the experimental zones in the 11th Five-Year Period so as to arrange for future work.