Vice Minister Yin Hejun met with Mr. Won Namkung, the newly appointed Chair of the ITER Council (IC), and Mr. Kijung JUNG, Head of Korean DA, at MOST on January 21, 2016, and exchanged views on the important issues to be addressed at the current stage of the ITER project.

Vice Minister Yin expressed warm welcome to Mr. Won Namkung for the visit and sincerely congratulated him for taking office as IC Chair from January 1, 2016. V M Yin stressed the importance of the ITER project for China to address its resource, environmental and energy challenges, saying that the Chinese government and MOST are placing great emphasis on the project and will join hands with other participating countries to advance the project, strengthen cooperation and make concerted efforts towards the shared objectives.

At the meeting, Vice Minister Yin and Mr. Won Namkung exchanged views on a wide range of issues, including the timetable for the generation of the first plasma (FP), IC’s independent evaluation, the progress and cost, expectations on IC and the adding of new members to the IC. V M Yin appreciated the endeavors the IC has been making to advance the ITER project, and hoped the independent evaluation team, which is set to complete its work by the end of April 2016, would make objective, credible and reliable assessment about IC’s schedule and human resource distribution so as to ensure the project’s overall schedule and the FP time. V M Yin emphasized that Mr. Won Namkung should closely work together with the members to push forward the delayed project, overcome management challenges, integrate resources, improve efficiency and properly deal with changes.

Mr. Won Namkung thanked Mr. Yin for his strong support to him and the ITER project, saying that he agreed on China’s position and views on key issues. He hoped that China will continue to offer suggestions to advance the ITER project and expedite the decision-making of the IC.

After the ITER Organization was established in October 2007, people from the seven members have been taking rotary positions as Chair and Vice Chair of the IC, Chair and Vice Chair of the Management Advisory Committee, Chair and Vice Chair of the Science & Technology Advisory Committee, and Chair of the Financial Auditing Committee. From January 1, 2016 China will be appointed as the Chair of the Financial Auditing Committee (South Korea and India will be the Chair and Vice Chair of the IC; EU and Russia will be the Chair and Vice Chair of the Management Advisory Committee; Japan and the U.S. will appoint Chair and Vice Chair of the Science & Technology Advisory Committee).

Mr. Chen Futao, Counselor of the Department of Basic Research, Mr. Chen Linhao, Deputy Director General of the Department of International Cooperation, Mr. Luo Delong, Head of CNDA, Mr. Sun Jian, Deputy Head of CNDA, attended the meeting.