By Li Han, Staff Writer of Tsinghua News Center

The Fifth International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians (ICCM), hosted by Tsinghua University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Morningside Group, opened at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on December 17. A total of over 1,000 Chinese mathematicians from all over the world gathered to share their ideas on future developments in their field. From December 18th to 22nd, talks and lectures given by the renowned mathematicians and covering a broad spectrum of subjects in mathematical sciences, are being held on the Tsinghua campus.

Academician Lu Yongxiang, Vice Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mr. Haoping, Vice Minister of Education, Tsinghua University President Gu Binglin, Professor Shing-Tung Yau, Chairman of the ICCM and director of the Tsinghua Mathematical Sciences Center, and Mr. Ronnie C. Chan, Founder of the Morningside Group, attended the opening ceremony.

During that ceremony, the audience witnessed the presentation of the Morningside Medal of Mathematics, the most prestigious awards for Chinese experts in this subject. A meeting was also held in honor of the 100th and 99th anniversaries of the births of the renowned mathematicians Hua Luogeng and Chen Xingshen, respectively.

(Photo by Guo Haijun)