Martin Li

    martin.mouse@163.com

    THE organizing committee of the 19th International Botanical Congress (IBC) was established yesterday, marking the official start of the city’s preparation to host the meeting of botanists from all scientific fields in 2017.

    The IBC was initiated by the International Association of Botanical and Mycological Societies in 1900 and is considered the top academic meeting in the international plant science circle.

    The event is scheduled to be held at Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center between July 23 and 29 in 2017, the organizing committee announced yesterday.

    The organizing committee has two honorary presidents: Hong Deyuan, professor of the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Peter H. Raven, botany professor of Missouri Botanical Garden.

    The congress’ theme will be “Green Creates the Future” and it’s expected to draw 5,000 representatives, including 3,000 from other countries.

    There will be lectures and symposiums during the meeting.

    “The congress will see the release of the ‘Shenzhen Declaration,’ which draws global attention to the protection and utilization of biological diversity,” Zhu Yanfeng, secretary general of the organizing committee, said at a press conference yesterday.

    It will be the first time for the IBC to be held in a developing country, according to the organizing committee.

    The congress is held every six years and the last one was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 2011.

    Shenzhen won the right to host the IBC on Dec. 10, 2009.