An annual plenary meeting of the Chinese National Committee of International Society for Digital Earth (hereinafter referred to as ‘CNISDE’) was held in Beijing on Oct.14, 2017. The meeting discussed and approved the annual working report and the future working plans. CNISDE working guidelines was also revised in the meeting. The CNISDE officers, in terms of the professionals for the standing committee and the working group committees, have been re-elected. A total of more than 100 people attended the meeting. Professor Wang Qinmin (Honorary President of CNISDE, Vice-chairman of the National Committee of CPPCC), Professor Xu Guanhua (Honorary President of CNISDE, former Minister of Ministry of Science and Technology), Professor Wang Qinglin (Deputy Director-General of Department of International Affairs, China Association for Science and Technology (CAST)), Professor Guo Huadong (President of CNISDE), Professor Gong Jianya and Professor Xia Jun (Vice Presidents of CNISDE), and the chairs and members of the working group committees, attended the meeting.

Prof. Guo Huadong gave a brief review on the development history of the International Society for Digital Earth and CNISDE in 11 years since their establishments, in his opening speech. He gave acknowledgements to the achievements made by CNISDE members. “I have confidence that the three series conferences (Laser Radar, Imaging radar, Imaging hyperspectrum) held by CNISDE are very successful and influential in China.”

Prof. Wang Qinmin extended his congratulations to the opening of the meeting in his speech. “CNISDE has obtained remarkable achievements and carried out a series of state of art academic exchanges with the support of domestic ministries and commissions, R&D departments, colleges and universities, enterprises as well as the majority of technical and scientific personnel, and played a major role in promoting the research and development of China in this field since its establishment”. He engaged in Digital Earth research through building the Digital Fu Jian Province. And he was in the 1st International Symposium on Digital Earth in 1999. He hoped CNISDE could leverage big data, internet of things, data mining and many other technologies, into building the environment of digital China, and to foster innovations in scientific researches and technical advances of Digital Earth.

Prof. Xu Guanhua also extended his congratulation. He hoped, under the lead of CNISDE President Prof. Guo Huadong, all members could show their activity in exploring new researches and advanced approaches to continually promoting the development of China's Digital Earth technology when facing the huge demands in the geospatial information area.

On behalf of CAST, Prof. Wang Qinglin highly praised the results achieved by the International Society for Digital Earth and CNISDE. He introduced "the Belt and Road International Science and Technology Cooperation Platform" project of CAST in response to "the Belt and Road Initiative". “The International Society for Digital Earth, as a member of CAST, is one key international organization headquartered in China, and is an influential academic society initiated by Chinese scientists.”, said he, “ The Digital Silk Road Alliance, promoted by the ISDE, was founded in Sydney, Australia in April 2017. It is the first international science and technology alliance established abroad under the cultivation of the CAST Belt and Road project. ” He hoped the alliance could develop international co-operation network and high level think tank, with the objective of benefiting Digital Earth S&T cooperation and capability building for countries along "the Belt and Road".

An appointment ceremony was followed. The letters of appointment were presented to the elected CNISDE vice presidents. And the new chairs of the 9 working group committee, in terms of digital disaster mitigation, digital heritage, digital mountain, digital agriculture, imaging spectrometer Earth observation, microwave Earth observation, laser radar, virtual geographic environment and spatial information industrialization, have also been appointed.

Finally, Prof. Guo Huadong summarized the meeting. He said that CNISDE had made outstanding performances under the joined efforts from all members. He hoped that CNISDE, by relying on the nine professional committees and their new members as its stronghold, could promote the development of Digital Earth in China and even in the whole world.