On March 5, 2014, Vice Minister Jianlin CAO of MOST, Head of Chinese Delegation, met with Prof. Osamu MOTOJIMA, Director-General of the ITER Organization (IO), Dr. Ju JIN, DDG of IO and Ms. Sachiko ISHIZAKA, Secretary to the ITER Council, as well as officers from the project control division. Two sides exchanged views on major issues of both concerns. DG briefed to the senior management of MOST and staff from CNDA the outcome from the Extraordinary Council Meeting held in February and the follow-up work done by IO. On behalf of MOST, VM CAO commended DG and his ITER team on their continuous efforts on the improvement of project performance and the implementation of IC charges. DG extended his appreciation for China’s firm support and contribution to the project. Present at the meeting were DDGs from MOST, including Mr. Yiqi PENG, Department of Basic Research, Mr. Sunan JIANG, Department of Personnel, Mr. Linhao CHEN, Department of International Cooperation, Dr. Delong LUO and Mr. Mingqin Ding from CNDA.

On March 6, DG visited the Headquarters of China National Nuclear Corporation and met with Mr. Zengguang LEI, Chief Engineer, Mr. Jiashu TIAN, MAC Chair, and heads of Departments from CNNC. Mr. LEI gave a brief introduction of CNNC and expressed, on behalf of the Corporation, his strong support to ITER project and to the work of CNDA. Further discussions were conducted between IO and MAC Chair concerning the upcoming MAC-17 meeting.

After the visit in Beijing, DG went to Western Superconducting Technologies, Co. Ltd. in Xi’an City, who is responsible for the manufacturing of ITER superconducting strand. President Pingxiang ZHANG and General-Manager Yong FENG showed DG their manufacturing lines and the quality control system of the factory. DG expressed his satisfaction to the schedule and QA work of the PAs in WST.

On the afternoon of March 7, DG visited Nantong Shenhai Science and Industrial Technology Co., Ltd., where the surface-plating of ITER superconducting strands are processed, including both Nb3Sn and NbTi types for ITER related PAs. Mr. Long JIANG, CPC Haimen Municipal Committee Secretary, and Mr. Caoming YANG, Mayor of the Haimen City and other officials from the local government met DG Motojima in the Municipal Hall. Mr. JIANG emphasized the support to the local suppliers for ITER PAs, DG was much impressed by the fine work of CN suppliers and was encouraged by their high-quality and on-schedule work attitudes.